


The Adventures of Peridot & Lapis Lazuli

by kind_of_trash



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon), Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Action & Romance, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, DC Comics References, F/F, Multi, Sickfic, Slow Burn, Whump
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-28
Updated: 2019-08-29
Packaged: 2019-09-01 13:42:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 15
Words: 36,977
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16766272
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kind_of_trash/pseuds/kind_of_trash
Summary: When Peridot came to Earth to flee the destruction of her homeworld, she planned to keep her alien identity and her powers a secret. But after a chance encounter with National City's heroine, her life begins to head in a new direction. (Lapidot Supergirl AU!)





	1. Pilot

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **EDIT: Italics added... AO3 killed all my formatting :'(

“Hang on, you want _what?”_

Amethyst’s voice crackled through the phone, “ _Granola._ ”

Weaving her way through the bustling streets of National City, she tried to figure out what her roommate had just said. Earth foods were still alien to her.

“What’s _granola?_ ”

“It’s like a bunch of-”

A car honked loudly to her left, cutting off Amethyst’s response.

Groaning, Peridot slipped into the nearest alley, only dimly lit by the brightness of the main street, “Okay, can you repeat that..?”

She trailed off, going completely still.

A gun cocked. The sound clicked right in her ear, echoing off the brick walls. A man stood to the left, aiming a pistol at her.

“Hang up the phone.” 

Silently, she ended the call.

“You don’t want this to end dirty, do you?” he asked, “Wallet. Now.”

“O-okay,” she stammered, “give me a minute..”

Like hell she was going to give him her money. She still needed to get granola. 

Mock-searching through her bag, she tensed up and made a fist.

The air buzzed as Peridot became hyper-aware of every metal around her. A few trash cans, a fire escape ladder, her phone-- and the pistol that was currently pointed in her face. She tried to concentrate; if she could just move the gun fast enough out of his hand..

Peridot didn’t get the chance.

“Mind if I cut in?”

A bluish-blur dropped from the sky in front of her.

Her water wings folded and evaporated into the air around them. With her deep blue hair, dress, and gloves, the figure was unmistakable: _Lapis Lazuli_ , National City’s iconic hero.

Peridot breathed a sigh of relief, her heart pounding. She was going to be fine.

The gun fired, and smoke erupted around them, but Lazuli was still standing. She had her  
hand pressed against the barrel.

“Oops. Were you counting on that to work?”

The man cursed. In one swift move, she kneed him in the crotch and pinned him against the wall. 

“Next time you need some money,” Lazuli asserted, “Go to another city.”

She landed a fist down on his head, and he crumpled to the floor.

Peridot stared in awe as the heroine turned to face her. As she met Lapis Lazuli’s steely blue eyes, she finally understood why she’d been dubbed after that precious stone.

“You good?”

“Really good..” Peridot whispered, gazing dreamily at her.

“What?”

“Uh, I’m fine,” she said sheepishly, “I didn’t need saving..”

“Sorry, did you want to get mugged?”

“I could’ve handled it.”

Lazuli raised an eyebrow, and Peridot gestured with her right hand. The steel cans beside the two rattled in response.

She looked amused, “Hmm, trashy. But I guess they’d make a good hiding place as any.”

“That’s not what I-” 

Before she could finish, Lazuli summoned her water wings and took off into the sky. Peridot stared, wide-eyed, as she flew out of her line of sight.

“ _Holy smokes.._ ”

* * *

Peridot stepped into her apartment, carrying a bag of groceries in one hand. Amethyst stepped into the room.

“Dude, what took you so long?”

Dropping the bag off in the kitchen, she took a breath, “I believe in English it’s called.. Getting mugged.”

Amethyst’s jaw dropped, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah. I was, uh.. Helped.”

Her roommate’s eyes lit up, “Was it Lapis Lazuli?!”

Peridot nodded, and Amethyst grinned widely, “Oh, man, that’s _awesome_! What was it like? What was _she_ like?”

“Uh-”

There was a knock at the door. Peridot jumped, turning around.

“I got it!”

She’d almost forgotten- Amethyst’s girlfriend was coming over.

“Hey, P!” 

Amethyst stood on her toes for a quick kiss. Sheepishly, Peridot turned away from the two.

Once they separated, Pearl approached her and extended her hand.

She was almost a foot taller than Peridot, wearing a white blouse and black pencil skirt. Everything about her looked neat and professional, from her fancy heels to the shiny bluetooth clipped onto her ear. Even her short, pink hair didn’t seem out of place.

“So you’re Penelope?”

Peridot cleared her throat, “Yeah. Penelope Dean.”

She smiled warmly, and shook Peridot’s hand, “Nice to meet you. Amethyst tells me a lot about you. Where are you from, again?”

“Uh…”

“Oh, Pearl! You’ll never believe what happened today!”

She blinked, “Hmm?”

“Per- _Penelope_ was mugged!”

Pearl’s eyes widened, “Mugged?!”

“Yeah, almost. But _Lapis Lazuli_ saved her!”

Suddenly, the room felt tense. Pearl took on an odd expression for a moment, like she’d just smelled something unpleasant. However, she was back to normal in an instant. Amethyst seemed to have missed it, but Peridot had noticed. She met her eyes, confused.

“O-oh, well, that’s good then..” Pearl murmured awkwardly, turning away from the two to shut the front door. 

“Yeah! She was just about to tell me what it was like,” Amethyst said, nudging Peridot, “Let’s go and sit down, though. You look tired, P.”

They took a seat on the couches in the living room- with Peridot on one, and Pearl and Amethyst the other.

“So,” Amethyst said eagerly, “What happened?”

She told them the story- minus the part about her trying to use her metal powers, of course. By the end, Peridot felt.. odd. Her heart was beating harder than usual, and her stomach felt off. She kept thinking about Lazuli- her stunning blue eyes, how confident she seemed.. Her strength, too- she knocked that guy out like it was nothing. 

Amazing.

“Uh, Penny..?” Amethyst asked, nudging Peridot. 

She blinked- the remote beside her had started to levitate. Whoops. Quickly, she pushed it back down. 

Thankfully, Pearl hadn’t noticed.

Peridot tried to put Lazuli out of her mind, but the more she tried to not think about her, the more she thought of her. The remote moved again, and she stuck it behind her. Casually.

Metal powers. Gotta love them.

Clearing her throat, she said finally, “So.. That’s what happened..”

Pearl glanced at her, “She just knocked the man out? And left?”

“Well.. yeah.”

“Aw, Pearl, don’t be so serious,” Amethyst said, “She saved her!”

“I just don’t know how to feel about this.. vigilante justice. We _already_ have a system to deal with criminals.”

Amethyst nudged her, “You’re just saying that ‘cause you’re FBI. She’s cool, right Pen’?”

Peridot nodded, feeling the same fluttering in her stomach, “ _Super_ cool.”

She laughed, “In that case, you should get mugged again- see if you can get her number.”

Peridot felt her cheeks heat up. She brought a hand up to cover her face, “No, I think I’ll be avoiding alleys from now on..”

“Penelope, I’m sure you can do much better than a… _ruffian_ like Lapis Lazuli,” Pearl said lightly, her icy blue eyes sparkling.

“I wouldn’t call her a ruffian. She saves people. She saved me.”

Pearl’s smile became strained, “Right, well, I just worry that maybe her methods are a little.. brutal.”

“And law enforcement is never brutal?” Peridot asked, beginning to get irritated. 

“Well, I never said that..!”

“No, you just came after-”

Amethyst cleared her throat, “Dude, did you ever put away the milk?”

“What?”

“Y’know, the groceries?”

Blinking, she shook her head. Perishables. Right.

“I’ll.. go and do that..” 

Amethyst followed her into the kitchen, under the guise of getting Pearl a glass of water. 

Peridot opened the fridge roughly, putting the milk away. It fit easily. The fridge was nearly empty- Amethyst had only made her get groceries today so that Pearl didn’t fuss about her ‘not getting enough nutrients’. 

When she shut the fridge door, she met Amethyst’s eyes.

“Yo, you gotta chill out.”

“What? I’m chill.”

Amethyst looked skeptically at Peridot, handing her a jug of orange juice to put away, “Are you sure about that? You seem pretty ready to fight my girlfriend.”

Peridot huffed, “I’m _not_. She’s just being too critical. Lazuli’s a hero, not some brute!”

“Y’know, I don’t remember you being _this_ passionate about anyone before.. Do you _like_ her or something?” 

“W-well,” Peridot sputtered, “She’s a _hero_ , so..”

“No, no, I mean.. You got a crush on her?”

Amethyst grinned smugly as Peridot’s face coloured, “No! N-not at all.. I’m just being.. fair..”

“Uh-huh,” she said, “Sure. Anyways.. You should probably cool down so you don’t, y’know, break a lamp again or something.”

“ _One_ time!”

Amethyst sniggered as she exited the kitchen, “Yeah, I know. We’ll be watching a movie if you’re interested, by the way.”

Huffing, Peridot turned away from her to continue putting away the groceries. She did _not_ have a “crush” on Lapis Lazuli.

* * *

_“And it seems our own Lapis Lazuli is engaged in battle on the outskirts of the city. Once again battling an extraterrestrial foe- this time armed with horns- it seems..”_

“I’m telling you,” Peridot insisted, eyes flicking to the TV, “she’s an alien. Like me!”

Amethyst and she were sat at a nearby bar, Pearl having left a few hours ago to make her flight to a conference in Geneva. A few days had passed since the incident, and Peridot found herself unable to shut up about Lapis Lazuli. 

Amethyst regarded her, cracking a smile, “Yeah? She looks like a cheerleader. Maybe she’s just some human who got struck by.. a wave, or something?”

Peridot rolled her eyes, “I _don’t_ think that’s how it works.”

She shrugged, “Sounds like a superhero origin story to me.”

“No, trust me, powers like those.. she’s from another planet. And if I’m right about _where_ , she’s here because she’s like me. She lost her world, too.”

Sighing, Peridot added, “And if that’s the case.. I don’t want her to have to feel alone.”

“Like you do?” Amethyst asked quietly.

Peridot scoffed, “I didn’t say that..”

“It’s okay, Per,” Amethyst smiled, “You should go after her, really.”

“How would I, though? Get mugged again?”

“There’s that. _Or-_ ” Amethyst lowered her voice, “you could do some superhero-ing of your own?”

Peridot scoffed, muttering, “That’s ridiculous. Me, a superhero? What would I even wear?”

Amethyst shrugged, “Your old clothes? I dunno know, man, I think you could do it. You’d need a _lot_ of practice..”

“Hey!” 

“..but you could get there. Help Lapis out, _get her number~_ ”

Peridot didn’t have time to respond- they both froze as another news anchor’s voice sounded, this time much more urgent:

_“Shortly after takeoff, National City Airlines’ flight 237, bound for Geneva, is experiencing loss of altitude. The pilot seems to be circling the city after apparent engine failure..”_

“Pearl!” they both shouted. 

Amethyst’s eyes were wide with fear, “That’s the flight she’s on! It’s gonna crash!”

“Wait, I’m sure Lazuli can-”

“She’s on the other side of the city, _remember?_ Fighting some alien.. She’ll never make it in time!”

Peridot felt some sort of tug in her gut. Quietly, she said, “It’s made of metal..”

Amethyst’s eyes flashed with understanding, “Your powers.” 

She nodded, and took a breath, “I.. I don’t know if I can-”

“Peri,” Amethyst squeezed her shoulder, “You got this. Let’s go.”

Rushing outside and into a nearby alley, they heard the blare of emergency vehicles zooming by. Looking up, the two easily spotted the plane, lit up like a Christmas tree against the night sky- and drastically losing altitude. 

“It’s too far away!” Peridot gasped, “I can’t do anything from here!”

Amethyst glanced around, then rushed over to a couple of steel trash cans. Peridot looked at her roommate like she’d lost her mind when she handed her a lid from one of them. 

“Need a lift?”

“You’re joking me.”

There wasn’t any time to argue. Shakily, Peridot placed the lid on the ground and stepped on. Shutting her eyes in concentration, she focused on moving the lid up and forward. She felt tingly, her retired power buzzing around her once again. 

Moving forward, she almost fell off. 

Amethyst cheered her on, and she finally sped into the sky.

The wind roared in her ears. Her heart pounded. She couldn’t believe what she was doing. 

She kept going.

Hovering close to the plane, and now miles up in the air, she tried not to look down. But her heart still sank- it was _way_ bigger in person. _And_ on fire.

Amethyst’s words echoed in her mind. _I’ve got this,_ she thought, focusing all her energy on the plane. _I can do this._

Peridot groaned from the effort, her whole body tensing. She wasn’t sure she could keep going, but the plane started slowing in its descent, and adrenaline filled her veins. 

She forced her fists upward, righting the plane. Shouting against the strain, she finally got it to level-off. It sped past the city, towards the coast. 

Heart pounding, she realized- _they could land in the water!_

Ditching the lid, she hopped on top of the plane, feet hooking into the sides with the help of her metal powers. She took a deep breath. She could do it.

_Or not._

Peridot looked up and groaned- _she forgot about the bridge._

She locked her eyes on the right wing, sticking her palms out and forcing them to the side. Her eyes blurred with tears, her ears ringing from the roar of the wind and her own screaming. Peridot could barely see or hear anything. She couldn’t tell if it was working or not. Then--

They didn’t crash.

With a huge splash, the plane landed in the water. Peridot got soaked, but she didn’t care. She could barely feel it. She collapsed against the plane with a huge grin, thinking, _I did it! I actually did it!_

Peridot’s euphoria started to fade as she realized a slight problem: she couldn’t move. Her body felt like lead, and her handy trash can lid was long gone now. Just before she could start to panic, she heard someone from a few feet away:

“Jeez, you really weren’t kidding.”

She couldn’t see that well, but she made out a blue, hovering blur.

“Laz..?”

“Hey,” Lapis Lazuli said, her voice gentle and sweet. It was music to Peridot’s ears.

“You’re here..? The alien..” 

“Oh, he was nothing. Did you have a good flight?” 

Peridot grinned, completely out of it, “You’re funny..”

“Um..” Lazuli cringed, averting her eyes. It was hard to tell, but it almost looked like she was blushing, “Anyways, we should both get out of here..” 

Peridot tried to stand. Her smile fell as her knees gave out beneath her. Oh, right.

Lazuli glanced over at her, brow furrowing, “You don’t look so good..”

Wordlessly, she moved closer and picked Peridot up, bridal style.

“W-what are you doing?”

“Getting you out of here, stupid. Unless you’re up for swimming home.”

“Uh, no,” she laughed nervously, “I guess not..”

Lazuli’s lips turned up ever so slightly, like she was smiling. Summoning her water wings, she took off into the sky, holding tight onto Peridot. 

Her heart pounded. Maybe Amethyst had a point.

“Where do you live?”

Quietly, Peridot gave her the address of Amethyst and her apartment. Her eyes drifted, staring in wonder at the city below. The dazzling view reminded her of her homeworld..

Well, before it’d been destroyed.

“Nice night..” she said softly.

“Yeah..”

Before she knew it, she was home. Lapis Lazuli set her down in an alleyway, hidden by the shadow of the apartment building.

“You can make it in, right?”

Peridot nodded. Her legs felt a little wobbly, but nowhere near as unsteady as before.

“Listen, Lazuli..”

Indigo eyes studied her curiously behind a dark mask, “Hm?”

“Can I get your number?” Peridot blurted out.

To her surprise, Lazuli let out a snort of laughter, looking at Peridot with a wide smile, “No.”

Her water wings spread out behind her, “Stay safe, or whatever.” 

Her tone was light. Peridot giggled, “I’ll see you around.”

The heroine rolled her eyes, “I doubt that.”

She took to the sky. Peridot whisper-shouted after her, “You’ll see me! And, _thank you!_ ”

Lazuli gave her one last look, and Peridot swore she was smiling.

* * *

_“THAT WAS AWESOMEEE!”_

Peridot didn’t have the chance to breathe before Amethyst pulled her into a suffocating hug. She wheezed, somehow managing to shut the door behind her before Amethyst could wake up their neighbors.

Luckily for her, she broke the hug soon after, “Dude, you’re soaking wet.” 

She blinked at her, “I.. guess I am.”

Amethyst had the biggest grin on, “You were on the news, P-dot! I _saw_ you! That was the most _metal_ thing I’ve seen! How’re you feeling? Excited?!”

Peridot managed a nervous smile, taking a deep breath.

“I feel.. Ready.”


	2. Feel Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peridot loses a fight with the ground.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **EDIT: Added italics... thanks ao3 :( ..and changed the title! "feel again" by one republic :) it's a jam & very fitting to peridot rn :D

For the first time in six months, Peridot felt like she had purpose.

She stared at her reflection, currently dressed in her old technician’s uniform from her homeworld. It was mostly vibrant shades of green, with a dark bodice and pale yellow gloves. In the center was a simple, gold diamond- the emblem for her planet’s monarchy.

 _Former_ monarchy.

Back then she had a job. A grueling, low-wage job- but a job nonetheless. If anything, it gave her the satisfaction of knowing that she’d done something useful.

Here, on Earth, it was entirely different. She didn’t know what she was supposed to do anymore. She didn’t even know what she _could_ do as an undocumented, literal alien.

She didn’t have much time to get a green card while escaping her dying homeworld.

So, for these last six months, she’d only accomplished learning more English and buying groceries with her _roommate’s_ money. Amethyst didn’t seem bothered by what Peridot viewed as her own apparent uselessness, but Peridot sure was. She felt restless- she wanted to do something, _anything_ , but she had no idea what.

Last night, however, she finally figured it out.

She’d saved a plane- some 442 metric tons- and potentially saved the lives of hundreds of people. That sort of rush, that euphoria- was completely unrivaled to how she’d feel after a workday on her homeworld.

For months, Peridot had secretly worried she’d never amount to anything anymore, but after last night, she felt like she finally found a calling. She could be a hero.

“You okay?”

Amethyst’s voice snapped her out of her thoughts. With a jump, Peridot turned to face her.

“Y-yeah, just.. thinking,” she said quietly, “It’s been a while since I’ve worn this.”

Grinning, her roommate clapped Peridot on the back, “You look super!”

She forced a laugh, “Very funny. But I still feel like it’s missing something..”

Peridot gazed at the mirror, running a finger over the diamond shape that now looked oddly out of place.

Amethyst shrugged, “We can figure out a symbol for you later. For now..”

Holding up her NCPD radio- Amethyst was a cop- she grinned, “I found your next job- there’s a car chase on the 112 freeway.”

Looks like it was time to find a new trash can. 

* * *

Zooming a few feet above the freeway, Peridot felt like she was beginning to get the hang of travel by trash lid. She pursued the speeding car as sirens blared in her ear. She’d almost caught up, until-

The car turned on the next intersection, and Peridot accidently veered off course, speeding face-first into the grass. 

She spat out dirt and groaned into the bluetooth Amethyst had given her.

“Maybe car chases aren’t your thing..”

Peridot wiped the dirt off her face, “What’s next?”

* * *

Her heart pounded in her ears as she walked towards the sound of gunshots, onto the scene of an armed robbery at West National City Bank. 

Peridot gasped as two black-clad men rushed out of the building, aiming their automatic guns right at her.

They fired, but the bullets didn’t land. Instead, they froze a centimeter away from her body, clattering to the concrete as if repelled by some unknown force. _Her metal powers!_

Cackling mischievously, she flicked both of her hands. The guns flew out of the men’s grip, smacking into their faces.

They fell to the ground with a thud- evidently out cold. Peridot grinned, watching the police step forward to cuff the two.

A familiar bluish blur dropped suddenly from the sky, blocking the view.

Lapis Lazuli stared wide-eyed at her, “You?!” 

Peridot winked at her, “Told you I’d see you again!”

She looked completely bewildered, “I thought you were joking..”

Amethyst’s voice sounded in her right ear, “Robbery in progress at the convenience store near..-”

“Better go,” Peridot said, grinning, “See you, Lazuli!”

The heroine simply gaped, wide-eyed, as Peridot stepped onto a metal lid and sped into the sky. _Heroically._

* * *

Peridot felt on top of the world as she zoomed through the night, above the city buildings, finally heading home after busting her latest criminal. She was exhausted, but completely elated.

Ready for a night of relaxing on the couch and watching Camp Pining Hearts with Amethyst, Peridot slowed to a more leisurely speed and looked to the direction of her apartment.

She didn’t find it. Something sharp stabbed into her suit, and her concentration was lost. Suddenly, she was overwhelmingly tired. Blackness filled her vision, and she fell through the air below. 

* * *

Peridot woke up groggily. She stared into bright ceiling lights, her vision blurry. As she began to focus, she felt panic rise in her throat.

Trying to sit up, she realized she was restrained at each limb. Her breathing quickened.

“Tranquilizer,” a voice said from a few feet away, “apparently you’re not immune.”

The voice belonged to a woman with an English accent. Peridot looked quickly in her direction, her eyes meeting ones concealed by shades. The woman was tall, with dark skin and a coily afro. Her arms were crossed over a simple black dress shirt.

“Where am I?!” Peridot demanded, her voice shaky and anxious, “Who are you?”

She responded calmly, “My name is Garnet. You already know Agent Adelman.”

A woman dressed similarly to Garnet appeared in her field of vision. She had familiar blue eyes and short, unmistakable hair.

“ _Pearl?!_ ” she exclaimed, “What’s going on?!”

“You’re at the Department of Extranormal Operations,” Pearl said, coolly, “The DEO. We’re an organization made to monitor and protect earth from alien threats. In other words, _you._ ”

“I’m not a threat!” Peridot cried, “I’m trying to _help_ people!”

“Miss Dean,” Garnet said, “We know you helped today. What we don’t know is what you’ll do tomorrow. We don’t know _you._ ”

Peridot stared at the pair in disbelief, “I don’t want trouble!”

“We don’t either,” Pearl said, “That’s why we caught you- to make clear of your intentions.”

“Does Amethyst know about this?! That you _lied_ about being FBI?”

Pearl looked away, guilt flashing across her features, “This is a covert operation. Of course I didn’t tell her.”

“But she’s your girlfriend!”

“Miss Dean,” Garnet interrupted, “That’s not important right now. We need to talk about you. Who you really are. Comply willingly with our investigation, or we’ll have to use force.”

Peridot shivered on the cold, metal exam table. Her heart pounded, and despite her adrenaline, she was much too exhausted to even think about fighting. Not that’d she’d be able to escape anyway.

Taking a breath, she said quietly, “Fine, fine. I’ll tell you- whatever you want to hear.”

Pretty soon, she was sitting up straight, hooked up to what they called a _polygraph._ “Your physiology is similar enough to humans,” Garnet had said, “So this will be able to tell whether you’re lying or not.”

And so, Peridot didn’t lie. She told them everything- all about her homeworld, its destruction, how she got to Earth, her real name, her powers…

The lie detector didn’t make much noise. Garnet was difficult to read, but Pearl seemed more at ease than before. Hopefully they were satisfied with her answers and didn’t kill her, or something.

“Alright,” Garnet said, once she had finished, “You’re free to go.”

Relief washed over her as Pearl blinked, “But Garnet-!”

She held up a hand to silence the agent, “That is, under one condition.”

Peridot raised an eyebrow, “And what would that be?”

Smirking slightly, Garnet answered, “You work for us.”

Both Peridot and Pearl exclaimed, “ _What?!_ ”

“Why would I work for you guys?! You _kidnapped_ me!”

“We were just doing our jobs,” Pearl huffed, irritated, “But she has a point- Garnet, what are you _thinking?_ This.. _newbie vigilante_ working _here?!_ She’ll end up compromising the whole operation!”

“I will do no such thing!”

Garnet pushed up her glasses, “I’m _thinking_ ,” she began, sternly, “that we were unable to ally with Lapis Lazuli because of our _own_ mistakes, and now we have a chance to make up for that. An alien hero makes for an irreplaceable asset in the fight against _alien_ threats. You should know that.”

“But-”

“Pearl, I have a good feeling about this. Trust me.”

The light-haired woman sighed, apparently resigned. Peridot looked between the two, as something finally became clear to her. She met Pearl’s eyes:

“Lazuli? You guys had a history? Is that why you’re so bothered by her?” 

Slowly, she nodded.

“What happened was.. complicated,” Garnet said, as she undid Peridot’s restraints, “And not our business to share. Come on, it’s time you learn about our little operation.”

She held out a hand. Peridot took it, slipping off of the table and onto her feet. 

The three walked through the exit of the exam room, and Peridot froze, staring in awe. The main area was a huge space, lined with computers and other tech- seemingly much more advanced than what she’d grown used to seeing on Earth. Several staff members were typing away at computers, all facing a wall covered with various digital screens that displayed all different things. The whole headquarters was monochrome- ranging in value from silver to shiny obsidian, leaving the only other colours in the form of deep blues and greens found on the many computer screens. 

It was an organized and complex base of operations that made Peridot begin to feel homesick for the advanced spaceships and corporations she’d done technician work on back home. 

Garnet turned around to her, a sly smile on her face, “Impressed?”

Blushing, she muttered, “It’s alright.”

The tall woman glanced back at her, and Peridot had the strangest feeling that she was seeing beyond her with her hidden eyes. She resisted the urge to shiver.

“So,” Garnet began, “You’re probably wondering why this organization exists.”

Peridot nodded, beginning to feel unnerved.

“Did your planet have any information on the Citadel?” 

She cringed, “Yeah.. They were a fascist empire in control of most of the Vega star system. They were rumoured to have fallen to a group of rebels, but I’m not sure..”

“That group,” Garnet began, with a grin, “was led by our founder, Rose Quartz.”

Peridot’s eyes went wide, “You’re joking me..”

Pearl smiled, “They were called the Crystal Gems, a force aiming to end the tyranny and oppression throughout the Galaxy. Their main goal was ending the reign of the Citadel, and Rose Quartz led them to victory.”

“But the success came with a cost,” Garnet said solemnly, “Rose’s forces were weakened, and the group was more or less disbanded. She continued to fight against injustice with her remaining comrades, aiming to stop the exploitation of captive aliens in the cruel experiments of the Psions.. But fringe elements of the Citadel came after her, and she had to flee here, to Earth. It was rumoured to be completely uninvolved in interstellar activities, and more or less isolated from other inhabited planets. It was the perfect safe haven.”

Sighing, she continued, “Rose Quartz was a hero, and she accomplished great things. But in doing so, she made many enemies. She knew her arrival on Earth opened the planet up to threats of invasion and war, and so she re-established the Crystal Gems.”

Peridot took a deep breath, letting everything sink in. Then, something hit her, “But where is she now?”

Pearl visibly tensed. She turned to Garnet, “I’ve got some things to take care of, is it alright if I go?”

Garnet met her eyes, and even behind her shades, Peridot got the impression that some sort of understanding was passing between them. Gently, she answered, “Of course.”

The other agent walked away. 

Turning to Garnet, Peridot asked, “What was all that about?”

“She’s got some things to do,” she replied simply. Peridot guessed she wouldn’t be getting any elaboration.

“To answer your question: as Rose predicted, forces came after her. The Gordanians, under the control of the New Citadel Empire, demanded she surrender herself or face the invasion and destruction of Earth. She went with them willingly, knowing the organization was still too weak to go to war.”

“So she’s still out there?” Peridot asked, “Can’t you guys do something now?”

“Peridot..” Garnet began, softly, “She was taken prisoner in order to pay for her actions against the Empire. Even more than that, they wanted to use her as a warning to those planning rebellion- to show that their attempts would end in failure. There’s no denying that she was executed to send that message.”

Suddenly, the DEO felt ten degrees cooler. Man, and she thought _her_ planet was bad. 

Garnet placed a hand on Peridot’s shoulder, “But, fortunately, her sacrifice paid off. Earth was left alone, and our government honored her actions by legitimizing the organization. It was renamed as the DEO and is supported federally to this day. We’re now more ready than ever for alien visitors, whether they’re peaceful- like you or Lapis Lazuli- or a threat to Earth.”

“So, Peridot,” she concluded, her voice strong, ”you came from a cruel planet. Now you want to do good for the world. Work alongside us, and you can do that. Are you willing?”

Heart blazing with a fire she’d never felt before, she took a breath and declared, “I’ll do it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: the history that Garnet tells Peridot is based off of a mix of both DC & Steven Universe lore! (Also, before you say anything, I know lie detectors are mostly bs.... But Peridot doesn't ;)


	3. I'm Ready

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pearl is a top.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **EDIT: ok finally done re-adding the italics.... & new title! "i'm ready" by AJR... is peri though ? ;D

“Peridot! _Peridot!_ ” 

Someone shook her awake. Gasping, she tumbled out of her bed onto the floor.

“Ugh, _what?!”_

With blurry vision, she looked up to see Amethyst standing over her, grinning widely and trying not to laugh. She shoved a phone screen into her face, “Look! It’s you!”

It was, indeed, a picture of her on the scene of the National City Bank robbery. Above the picture was an article header: _“Olivine Heroine Stops Bank Robbery”._

Her eyes went wide, scanning over the article. Written English was still a little hard for her, especially upside-down, but she caught the byline: _Lola López._

Huh. For some reason, the name sounded familiar. 

“It’s on the front page of Diamond Dept.!”

Peridot sat up, rubbing her head, “Is that good?”

“Yeah it is!” Amethyst said excitedly, “You’ve seen the building, right? They’re the biggest in the city!” 

She grinned, but then her face fell once she realized:

“Uh.. What time is it?”

“Around 12. Why?”

“Crap!” she yelped, jumping up “I overslept!”

Amethyst gave her a confused look, laughing, “For what?”

Peridot froze, in the middle of putting on pants under her oversized T-shirt, “Uhh.. y’know.. Groceries..?”

“But we already have-”

“Oh, but the weather’s so nice these days, y’know?! I’d better get going, groceries won’t buy themselves!” 

She rushed off past a very confused Amethyst, slipping behind the apartment building. There, she phased out of her regular clothes into her uniform, attempted to tidy up her hair, and took off for the DEO.

Peridot _really_ needed to think of a better mode of travel than a trash can lid.

* * *

“You’re late.”

“Maybe you’re just early,” she murmured, yawning. 

“What was that?!” Pearl demanded, glaring.

“Agents, calm down,” Garnet said gently.

 _Agents._ Peridot’s earlier irritation faded almost instantly- she was an _agent_ now. It felt like a fair step up from being a glorified computer technician. 

“She was probably tired from all the fighting yesterday,” the director explained, “it’s only natural that she overslept.”

“How did you-?”

“Your hair,” Garnet began slyly, “could use some combing.”

Peridot blushed, clearing her throat, “A-anyway.. What am I here for?”

“Training,” Pearl said, “You’ll be sparring with me today.” 

Her shoulders slumped, “ _Training?/ _I thought I joined so that I could be useful!”__

____

Pearl rolled her eyes, “You won’t be useful if you die on the field because you have the battle experience of a _help desk technician._ ”

“Hey!” Peridot protested, “I stopped the plane- _and_ those robberies!”

“That plane was pure luck,” Pearl sad coolly, “And you still managed to cause some damage on the city. As for the robberies- well, defeating human criminals is a far cry from stopping _aliens._ ” 

“What Pearl’s trying to say,” Garnet began, “is that this is just to prepare you, so you’ll have the skills to protect yourself and others. The work we do here is dangerous, you need to be ready for that.”

Peridot sighed in defeat. “Fine. Hit me.”

* * *

“ _AUgh-!”_ Peridot groaned, doubling over from a kick in the stomach.

Maybe she should’ve used a better choice of words earlier.

Pearl smiled at her, a fierceness in her eyes that Peridot hadn’t seen until now, “What? Too much for you?”

She glared, “Of course not.”

Peridot tried to deliver the same move onto Pearl, but the agent side-stepped out of the way and knocked her off balance.

In what seemed like a split-second, Pearl had her pinned to the ground. 

Peridot wondered, wincing, whether she had this same sort of ferocity with Amethyst.

“Okay, _okay_ ,” she gasped, “I need a break..”

To her surprise, Pearl laughed good-naturedly, “That’s okay. It’s important to know your limits, and not let your _pride_ get into the way.”

“Wow, thanks..” she murmured.

Pearl released Peridot from her grip and stood up, “You seem to be more resistant than a human. That’ll be an asset in battle.”

“Good to know,” she said softly, her head spinning.

Offering her a hand, Pearl looked as if she was trying not to laugh, “Are you feeling alright?”

“Super,” she said, taking her hand. The agent pulled her up and studied her.

“I think that’s enough for today.”

“But-!”

“You worked hard,” Pearl said kindly, “you must be tired. Know your limits, Peridot. Get some rest.”

She wanted to protest, but Pearl finally seemed to be warming up to her. Probably a good idea not to mess with that.

* * *

Pearl led her to the front door. One of the entrances to the DEO was hidden in plain sight, disguised as a private office building in a forgotten area of National City.

As Peridot left, her ears began to ring. The pain only got worse- eventually, she had to lean against the wall of the building as her head throbbed. A voice hissed in her ear.

_“Hurts, doesn’t it? “I’m communicating at 50,000 Hz. A frequency only an alien could hear. I know who you are, and I promise you: I can do so much more than give you a headache." ___

____

“Meet me at the National City power plant,” the voice continued, “I just want a chat. Tell anyone else- I won’t be so peaceful. To you or your city.”

Peridot’s heart pounded. She slipped into the shadows, grabbing her lid and speeding off. Was this a trap? Probably.

Still, Peridot didn’t become a superhero to waste her time training inside of some facility. She could handle this. If she did, it might even get Pearl off her back.

* * *

Peridot landed by a water tank, looking around nervously. The sun was shining, but she wasn’t comforted by the pleasant weather. Sunlight reflected off of the various metallic structures and machinery, into Peridot’s eyes. The air smelled awful. 

Why don’t antagonists ever want to meet in a park? Or a meadow?

Before she could contemplate it any further, a figure approached from behind the alternator in the center of the powerplant. 

Peridot stiffened, “Who are you?”

She was tall, clad in dark leather that shined as a dusty sage in the bright light. Her hair was tied up into a slick updo. She had a sickly pale complexion- almost green- and her olive eyes were narrowed in an unfriendly glare. Something was strapped to her back. Peridot hoped she didn’t have to find out what it was.

“Serpentine. I have a proposition for you.”

Peridot hoped she couldn’t tell she was shaking, “What do you want?”

“I want your help. You’re DEO, right? I’ve been tracking them. I saw when they tranquilized and kidnapped you. Fun, wasn’t it?”

Peridot blinked.

“The DEO,” Serpentine continued, “is made to protect the Earth from aliens. They’re not really on _your_ side. How can you trust them?”

“For one, they didn’t send message via tinnitus,” Peridot said coldly, crossing her arms.

Serpentine laughed, “Well, how else was I to contact you? Knock on the front door? That’d be well-received.”

She scoffed, “Get to the point.”

“They apprehended my companion- the _only_ person I had left from my home planet. Do you understand how that feels? Losing the _last thing_ that reminded you of home?”

“No,” she said softly, “I have nothing left.”

“I’m sorry,” she said, and it felt genuine, “But you and I, we’re the same. We’re both aliens. They took someone important from me. Who knows what they could do to you? Could you imagine: whatever life you’ve built here so far, stripped from you in an instant?”

Peridot’s stomach twisted. She had a point.

Still, she reminded herself: she didn’t know this person, let alone their friend. If they chose to recruit Peridot and arrest another alien, there had to be a reason for that.

Between trusting villain #4 and a proper organization, Peridot had to choose the latter.

“You still haven’t told me what you wanted.”

“Help me infiltrate the DEO and rescue her. You’re trying to be National City’s hero, right? Prove it.”

Peridot never had the chance to become skilled in analyzing people; a life of working only with machines and technology didn’t give you that. She couldn’t tell whether Serpentine really just wanted to be reunited with her friend, but she wouldn’t break someone she didn’t know out of prison.

Also, if she betrayed the DEO, Pearl would probably kill her.

She took a breath, “No.”

“What?”

“I won’t do it.”

Serpentine glared, her pupils narrowing into slits. Something about that gaze made Peridot freeze. She thought the alien had been intimidating before- this was different. Her legs suddenly felt like jelly.

“Fine. You don’t want to be a hero? You can make just as good a hostage. I _will_ get her back.” 

“ _What?_ ” She choked out, backing up. Her heart pounded. 

Turning around, Peridot looked desperately for her ride here. She couldn’t find it. A sound of metal hitting metal came from behind her. She’d had her back turned too long- _idiot!_

Something strong and hard hit her in the side. Peridot fell to the ground, gasping in pain. 

She looked behind her. Serpentine stood tall, holding an axe. The sun shined off its surface- _metal!_

Her enemy let out an icy laugh, “You call yourself a hero? You’re nothing like Lapis Lazuli. You’re no fighter. You’re pathetic.”

“Shut.. up..” she grunted, trying to sit up. 

Serpentine threw her weapon, but Peridot was ready. She slammed her fist down and it instantly froze in the air, dropping to the ground with a loud thump.

The alien’s eyes went wide. As she went after the weapon, Peridot scrambled to her feet.  
Dark spots filled her vision, and she stumbled forward. Her side was on _fire._

Serpentine got the axe again, and threw it. Peridot could barely stand up, let alone stop it. 

It grazed her arm and slammed onto the ground behind her. Peridot cried out in pain. She was bleeding.

Serpentine rushed forward before Peridot could regain her bearings, and slammed her into something metal.

“Neat trick. But you’re gonna have to do better than that.”

Peridot wheezed, trying to focus on staying conscious. Her vision was darkening. She’d never gotten an injury like this before- she was panicking.

The alien was right.. She _was_ weak. Peridot couldn’t stop her. Then-

A blast erupted behind them. Serpentine turned, looking up into the sky to see a dark helicopter approaching from the distance. She released Peridot and rushed off. 

Vision fading in and out, Peridot tried to focus. She heard more blasts sound in Serpentine’s direction, but she didn’t think any landed. Faintly, she saw a ladder drop from the helicopter.

 _The DEO,_ she thought weakly, _I’ll be fine.._

Her eyes drooped close.

* * *

_“Peridot.. Agent Peridot..!”_

Someone was shaking her. She peeled open her eyes.

It was Pearl. She gazed down at Peridot with a grim expression.

“Pursue the hostile,” she said into her mic, “We’ve got her.”

* * *

Once, Peridot was told to upgrade the interface system of a prominent noble. It was one of her first assignments, and she found herself completely lost. In the end, she messed up enough to make it in need of repair by _another_ technician.

Her manager had been livid, but even then, she hadn’t felt the shame she was feeling now. She’d almost been captured back then. Even worse, the alien managed to slither away. Who knows what she’d do next- who’d she’d _hurt_ next. 

Serpentine was right. Peridot was barely a threat. How could she had ever believed that she could be a hero?

“ _Why_ on Earth would you go off on your own?!”

Huffing, Peridot answered tiredly, “I already told you. She threatened National City..”

Pearl was having a field day lecturing her. If Peridot thought the agent didn’t like her before, she surely didn’t now. 

She couldn’t even look at her. Pearl was practically leaking disappointment. Peridot kept her eyes averted, looking idly at the wound on her arm. It had already stopped bleeding by the time they got back to the DEO, which struck Peridot as odd. She’d thought it was pretty deep.

“And you believed her?! Well, great job almost-” 

Garnet stepped into the room, placing a hand on Pearl’s shoulder, “Agent Adelman, that’s enough. She feels guilty as it is.”

Peridot didn’t meet her eyes. She wrapped a hand around her side. 

“Peridot, we’re glad you wanted to help.”

“Mhm.”

“But you can’t just go after aliens on your own. You could’ve gotten killed. This is an organization for a reason- we need to work together. And if something happens, you have to trust that we’ll take care of it.”

“Yeah, yeah,” she mumbled, staring at the floor, “I know- _ow!_ ”

Peridot flinched, looking at Garnet. She was holding a pair of tweezers and looking satisfied. A small fragment of metal was held between the device. Judging by the tenderness in her arm, it’d come from the wound.

“Well, you at least accomplished one thing. Now we can track her.”

* * *

Peridot had made it to the front door of her apartment before she realized she didn’t have any groceries. She groaned.

Garnet and Pearl had sent her home to ‘rest’ and ‘recuperate’, but it felt more like a time-out than anything. 

_Way to go,_ she thought. She didn’t want anything to do with hero-ing right now. She just wanted to lie down and watch _Camp Pining Hearts._

Maybe she should just throw in the towel..

Amethyst opened the door, eyeing her strangely.

“You didn’t get groceries?”

“The lines were too long,” she said, ruder than intended. She didn’t even care about trying to think of a convincing story.

Amethyst laughed, “Uh, okay, dude..”

Peridot stepped inside, trying to hide a wince. Her ribs were still a little sore, but much better than even just an hour ago. 

Shutting the door, Amethyst turned to face Peridot, “Were you fighting?”

“N-no!” she stammered. Oh yeah, best liar.

Amethyst crossed her arms skeptically, “You look like you’re in pain.”

Scoffing, Peridot mumbled, “I do _not_. Leave me alone.”

Suddenly, Amethyst reached out a hand to poke her in the ribs. Peridot cried out, gripping her side.

“Sure, you’re fine.”

She glared, “Shut up.”

“Dude, just tell me what happened,” Amethyst said, “Where’d you go today?”

Peridot took a seat on the sofa, averting her eyes. She knew Amethyst wouldn’t just let it go, and the sooner she told her, the sooner she’d stop bothering her.

“Fine. I was fighting..”

Amethyst’s eyes widened in curiosity. Peridot told her what happened, save for the part about the DEO. She told her roommate all about the fight, how much she failed, how she’d almost lost her life. 

“So,” Peridot finished glumly, “Turns out I was wrong. I can’t do this.”

“What are you talking about? Dude, you were amazing yesterday! With the plane, too!”

She shrugged frowning, “Luck, I guess. Today was the first real fight, against an _actual alien_ , and I totally failed. I’m not cut out for this, Amethyst.. Besides, we still have Lazuli. No one _needs_ me. I was stupid to think anyone did.”

Her roommate placed a hand on her shoulder, “I think the people who were in that plane would feel differently. I know Pearl did.”

Peridot blinked, “Really?”

“Yeah, man! She called me, she was all like, ‘wow, I thought we were so toast, but then this _amazing person_ saved us all’!”

Laughing, Peridot mumbled, “She did _not_ say that..”

Amethyst smiled slyly, “Okay, maybe, those weren’t her exact words. But I know her, I could tell how grateful she was. And who cares if you’re not perfect right now? Lapis didn’t start off perfect. She made mistakes. Even caused an oil spill once.”

“No way,” Peridot giggled, “She did?”

Amethyst grinned, “Yeah. But in the end, it all turned out okay. This’ll turn out okay, too. That alien lady’s still out there- you have another chance.”

Sighing, she nodded, “You’re right..”

“So go get her, man!” Amethyst said, shaking her shoulder. It didn’t hurt.

Peridot smiled, “Understood!”

She’d get Serpentine. First, she just needed some help.

* * *

“Peridot, you’re supposed to be resting. We told you, we’ll handle it.”

Rushing to keep up with Pearl, she insisted, “But I’m fine now! I just want to help.”

“No.”

“Come on!” she pleaded, “ _Amethyst_ thinks I can do this!”

Pearl huffed, “Amethyst doesn’t understand how high the stakes are.”

“Well, maybe she would! But _you_ haven’t told her anything!”

“There are _reasons_ for that, Peridot.”

“ _What_ reasons?!” she demanded, fuming, “You don’t trust your own girlfriend?”

Pearl’s cheeks colored, “I _do_ trust her.”

“Then why keep this from her?! Do you not care enough to be honest?”

“OF COURSE I CARE!” she snapped, face flushing in anger, “That’s _why_ I can’t tell her!”

Peridot froze- Pearl had tears in her eyes. Her irritation started to fade.

“If she gets involved..” she began, her voice shaking, “If she gets _hurt_ …”

Pearl squeezed her eyes shut, “I can’t do that. Not again.”

Oh. _Oh._

Suddenly, all of Pearl’s behavior made sense. Leaving before Garnet revealed Rose’s death, how strict she’d been with Peridot just to keep her _safe_... 

Rose must’ve been close to her.

Pearl wasn’t just following protocol; she was trying all she could to prevent more grief. Peridot wanted to smack herself for not realizing earlier. 

“I’m sorry.”

Pearl wiped her eyes, “No, forgive me- that was unprofessional..”

Peridot bit her lip, “Look, I… get it now. You don’t want to lose anyone again, right?”

For a few moments, she was silent. Then, finally, she looked away and nodded.

“If you use _me_ , you won’t have to. Like you said: I’m more resistant than the average human-  
if you want to prevent more casualties, I’m your best bet!”

Pearl sighed, “Peridot, you almost died back there. What would make this time any different?”

“I’ll…” Peridot took a breath, having to force the words out, “I’ll have your help. You and Garnet. If we work together, I’m sure we can beat her this time!”

Pearl’s eyes began to water. Before Peridot could worry about her crying again, she clapped her hands together with a smile and declared, “Okay. Let’s go. We’ve got an alien to catch.”

* * *

Pearl led her to where Garnet was. The taller woman turned around, eyebrows raised in slight surprise. 

“Peridot? What are you doing back here?”

“She’s here to help us defeat Serpentine,” Pearl affirmed. Her eyes were alight with the same passion she’d had during training.

“Do you really think she’s ready?” Garnet asked.

To her surprise, Pearl placed a hand on Peridot’s shoulder. She nodded, her expression full of certainty. 

“She’s got us. She can do it.”

The director smiled, “Good. Because she’s exactly who we need.”

* * *

Peridot slammed hard into the top of a truck, ignoring her nerves. She squeezed her eyes shut and concentrated; soon, the vehicle screeched to a stop. 

She smiled. Step one, check.

With the metal that’d been extracted from Peridot’s wound, they’d tracked the alien’s weapon to a truck heading for the city. She was probably ready to start attacking humans to get what she wanted. 

“SERPENTINE!” she cried, “Come out, loser! Fight me!”

_“Peridot, don’t antagonize her!”_

She decided to ignore Pearl’s voice. Peridot waited, jumping down in front of the truck. 

Serpentine walked out with a cold glare, “You are so annoying..”

Peridot smiled, “I know. Ready for round two?”

Rolling her eyes, “You really think you can do better than-”

Peridot flicked her wrist, smacking Serpentine in the face with a metal lid. The alien gasped, disoriented for the moment.

She kneed her in the stomach, making Serpentine double over. Peridot tried to concentrate on the axe that the alien held in her hand, but it was difficult to get control over. Before Peridot could get a ferrokinetic grip on it, she had to stumble backwards and dodge a swing in the face.

Serpentine smiled devilishly and swung her axe again. This time, Peridot stumbled enough to get knocked off her feet.

The alien let out a laugh, pinning her down. 

“What makes you think you can win this time? You’re just as pathetic as a couple hours ago.” 

Serpentine leaned in, “Tell your little crew- release Nephrite, or I’ll end the lives of you and all those pathetic humans.” 

Peridot gasped as the axe swung towards her face, squeezing her eyes shut. _Please work…_

The hit didn’t land. Opening her eyes, Peridot smiled at Serpentine’s shocked expression. The axe was frozen in the air between them, courtesy of her metal powers.

“W-what the..?”

“Sorry,” Peridot smiled, “Were you expecting that to work?”

Serpentine growled and tried to force it forward. Squeezing her eyes shut, Peridot focused all her energy on the axe and tried swing it at her enemy. Her head throbbed.

It didn’t budge. Peridot felt her stomach sink.

“I-I can’t..” she whispered into her mic, “It’s not working!”

The alien was pushing it closer and closer to Peridot’s neck. She wasn’t going to make it..

 _“Peridot,”_ Pearl said urgently, _“focus! I know you can do this!”_

She exhaled. Concentrating, Peridot put every last bit of energy she had into controlling the axe.

Peridot groaned with the effort. She could feel herself sweating, her heart racing.

Then- it swung back. Serpentine stumbled off Peridot, trying to dodge. The axe clattered to the ground beside her.

Quickly, Peridot got to her feet and slammed the axe towards Serpentine. 

The flat side of the metal smashed into the alien’s head. She crumpled to the floor, unconscious.

Smiling victoriously, Peridot grinned. 

“Who’s the weak one now?!”

Before she could gloat any further, she passed out.

* * *

Pearl got a taxi to drive Peridot back to her apartment. She’d woken up not too long after the fight; fine, but apparently pretty worn out.

Serpentine had been arrested and taken back to the DEO, put in a special cell that dampened alien power. Not that she was all that useful without her weapon.

Her driver finally got her to the apartment. Peridot wobbled out, sleepy but euphoric. 

Once the car had driven away, she noticed someone approach from the alley beside her apartment. The same one Lapis had dropped her off in. She started to panic, then-

“Nice job out there.”

_“L-Lazuli?!”_

The heroine smiled slyly, approaching Peridot. The streetlights illuminated her lithe form, revealing her blue-clad outfit and sparkling eyes.

“Last time I checked.”

“You saw?!”

“Well, not in person,” she held up a phone, smirking, “You’re all over the news.”

Peridot’s eyes widened as she read an article titled: _“Female vs. Reptilian Deathmatch on Exit 95!”_

She giggled. Lazuli smiled at her, an amused twinkle in her deep blue eyes. 

“Stay safe, ‘kay? I’ll see you around.”

Peridot stared as Lapis twirled around, summoned her wings, and flew off into the night sky.

_‘See you around…?’_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See you in two weeks ;) (Fingers crossed- next chapter, "Mess is Mine" should be coming out 12/11 !)


	4. Mess is Mine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peridot's intervention ends up doing more harm than good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> back again folks!! so, each chapter from here on out will have a song title as its name; this one is "Mess is Mine" by Vance Joy :)

Peridot heard the distant sound of water. 

The ocean waves were gentle today, barely hitting the shore. Sunlight glimmered off of the water. 

Someone laughed nearby her, “You don’t wanna swim?”

“I don’t know how,” Peridot responded sheepishly.

“Come on,” Lapis reached a hand out for her to grasp, “I’ll teach you.” 

Peridot took her hand, and Lapis pulled her up from the beach chair she was sitting in. For a moment, as the light of the sunset shined beautifully on Lapis, Peridot forgot the rest of the world.

She tried to take a step forward, but she was distracted. Her leg nearly gave out, but Lapis caught her in time.

“Whoa there,” she murmured, “You okay?”

Peridot nodded. She felt her cheeks heat up.

“I’m fine..”

Carefully, the pair made their way to the shore. Lapis laughed sweetly beside her, as if Peridot’s mere presence was hilarious. She didn’t understand it, but the sound was melodic and beautiful. To say the least, she wasn’t bothered.

Peridot was about to take a cautious step into the water, when an irritating sound began to ring in her ears. She lost her balance, but before she could fall into the water-

She gasped awake.

Groggily, she turned off her alarm. Her face burned as she realized- she had a dream about _Lapis…_

Peridot pushed the thought aside, shapeshifting into something more presentable. She left her room and went to grab her bag. The flat was eerily quiet, with Amethyst away at work. 

Eager to not be alone in her thoughts about a certain blue-eyed heroine, Peridot exited rather quickly.

* * *

Once she arrived at the DEO, she was greeted by Pearl’s warm smile. 

“Morning, Agent Dean,” she said slyly, “Are you well rested today?”

Peridot rolled her eyes, but smiled, “Yeah, actually.”

Pearl looked pleased at that, and led Peridot along to meet up with Garnet. Peridot met her eyes- well, _shades_ \- and greeted her. The taller woman smiled.

“You seem to be in a good mood today. Sleep well?”

Once again, Peridot was reminded of her dream. She nodded, trying to push the thoughts aside and hoping she wasn’t blushing.

“You look flushed. What’d you dream about?”

If she didn’t know any better, Peridot would have been sure that Garnet could read her thoughts, “Oh, uh, I don’t remember..”

“She’s getting worse,” Pearl teased as the newbie’s face heated up, “Was it about someone? Anyone you like?”

“N-no!” she stammered, “Can we just get to training now?”

“Alright, alright..” Pearl said, and then led her to the hallway. They walked together until they reached the entrance of a large room. 

Peeking inside, Peridot asked, “A _gym_? You want me to lift weights?”

Pearl laughed, “Not with your arms- with your _powers._ ”

She nodded slowly as she began to understand. Smiling smugly, Peridot grinned.

“Oh, that’ll be easy.”

Pearl lifted an eyebrow and gestured for her to lift two small dumbells. She concentrated, lifting them easily. 

“Good. Now try that one,” Pearl directed, pointing to a barbell that was loaded with several more weights on each end.

Peridot took a breath, concentrating as she formed her hands into fists and made a lifting motion. This one was more difficult, and she felt herself sweating. 

Once she’d managed to lift it and lower it to ground again, she looked to Pearl with a triumphant expression, “Come on, this is too easy.”

Pearl smiled slyly at her, “Oh? Well, then, lift the first two again, as well as _that._ ”

She gestured to a rack nearby with three rows of weights on each end. It had to be a couple hundred pounds.

Peridot didn’t let her confident expression fall. Motioning with her hands again, she lifted the two weights from before and concentrated on raising the rack. 

Sweat beaded on her forehead. She felt her breathing begin to increase as she squeezed her eyes shut in concentration. 

Finally, the rack began to lift off the ground- and then the two weights fell to the floor. She let out an exasperated puff of air, trying to get control of them again, but her head began to ache.

Peridot lowered the rack to the ground in defeat, panting and dropping to her knees.

“I don’t get it,” she huffed, “I moved an entire _plane_ before!”

Pearl took on her usual know-it-all expression, “As I suspected, you haven’t fully mastered your powers.”

Flushing, Peridot protested, “I totally have!” 

She smiled at the new recruit, “If you had, you wouldn’t have trashed a significant portion of the city when you landed that plane. Or used so much of your energy that you passed out after last week’s fight.” 

Opening her mouth to speak, Peridot froze again once Pearl held up a hand to silence her.

“It’s nothing to be ashamed of. You’ve been here only six months, right? And you didn’t have these powers until your arrival.”

Peridot nodded slowly.

“It’s going to take time to master them. Adrenaline will help you like it did with the plane, but it won’t always be enough.”

Though Peridot would never vocalize it, she had to admit Pearl had a good point.

“So, today, all I want you to do is manage to lift all three things. Start off one by one if you have to. Good luck.”

* * *

Hours later, and Peridot was covered in sweat but completely elated. She lowered all three items back to the ground, grinning at Pearl. 

The agent gave her a small smile, “Good work. You’re dismissed for today.”

Before she left, Peridot stopped by the center of the DEO and eyed the agents at work. She glanced at Pearl, “Anyone for me to hunt down?”

“No,” she said lightly, taking a seat at one of the computers, “Not yet, anyway…”

“What do you mean?”

“We’re trying to track down a potential threat, but we haven’t had any luck yet,” Pearl held up a hand before Peridot could speak, “Don’t worry. When you can help, we’ll let you know.”

* * *

As she stepped outside of the DEO, Peridot’s phone started to buzz. She answered the call on her bluetooth.

“Yo, Peri! Robbery downtown- the getaway driver is.. Getting away. Think you can help?”

She was exhausted, but how could she say no?

“Where is it?”

* * *

Peridot dropped from the sky at the end of the exit, several yards away from the black sedan that was zooming down the road, followed by the blares of police sirens.

She stuck a hand out, concentrating on the car. It began to slow, until her head suddenly throbbed and her concentration was lost. She panicked- she was so tired that she couldn’t even move. 

Before she could get flattened, something strong flew her out of the way. Peridot felt herself get slammed into the grass, and she groaned.

“Are you trying to get yourself killed?!”

Lazuli. Of course. 

Peridot was silent, wide-eyed and blushing hard at their proximity. Lapis was literally on _top_ of her.

_“Peridot? You okay?!”_ Amethyst’s voice suddenly crackled in her ear, and she snapped out of her thoughts.

“I’m good..”

“ _Peridot? _” Lazuli repeated, raising an eyebrow, “I’ve got this one.”__

Before she could respond, she zoomed off in a blur of blue.

* * *

Peridot deflected the bullets with a wave of her hand, kicking today’s armed robber where the sun doesn’t shine. He crumpled to the floor just as Lapis Lazuli swung the door open.

She grinned mischievously at her bewildered expression, “Sorry, _I got_ this one.”

Lazuli shrugged her shoulders and twirled around, “Whatever.”

* * *

“Look, I’m good. You can go away now.” 

Peridot eyed the heroine skeptically as she flew alongside her through the night sky, gripping tight onto her lid, “Two heroes are better than one, right? We can work together!”

She rolled her deep blue eyes, “I work alone.”

“Aw, come on, we could be unstoppable together! You know I’m good.”

“You ate dirt a couple days ago,” Lazuli deadpanned, “and you almost got yourself killed today.”

Peridot flushed- she didn’t know the heroine had seen her very first mishap, “Cars are hard! Don’t blame me.”

“Whatever you say. Anyways, I don’t need a partner. Stick to your own-”

She froze, water wings flapping in place. Peridot stopped as well, confused, and then her eyes widened. Gunshots rang out from below. 

The two looked down. Illuminated by streetlights, Peridot made out two scattered groups of people firing and shouting at each other from behind black cars. 

“Are those _gangs?!_ National City has _gangs?”_

Lapis rolled her eyes, ignoring the question, “Stay here. I’ll handle it.”

Before Peridot could protest, she sped downward. 

She followed her. Lazuli wasn’t going to have _all_ the fun.

Peridot dropped down in a nearby alleyway. Lapis stood a few feet away, eyeing the men surrounding her. They fired, but the bullets dropped harmlessly to the ground as soon as they hit her. 

Invulnerability. Unfair...

“You know those won’t work on me,” she said coolly, “Drop your weapons, and we can all go home.”

One of the men closest to her spoke, “Not gonna happen. _They_ ,” he spat, looking to the second scattered group, “owe us money.”

Lazuli rolled her eyes, “I don’t care about your gang politics. End this before the police get here. They’re just as trigger-happy as all of you.”

Peridot’s eyes widened as she spotted a guy crouching behind a black car, aiming his gun. With a quick wave of her hand, she flung it down the street. It went off, firing into a nearby building and shattering a window. 

Chaos erupted around them again. Peridot rushed over to Lapis, deflecting so many bullets away from herself that her head began to throb with the effort. 

Lazuli twirled around to glare at her, “ _What_ are you _doing?!_ I was handling it!”

“Someone was gonna shoot!” she gasped, ducking behind a car.

“Now _everyone’s_ shooting. Great work.”

Lapis left her behind, flying up and dropping back down near three men shooting from behind a car. She grabbed a gun from one of them, kicking the man off his feet and whacking the other two with his weapon. 

Peridot stood up to try and do the same to the others, but before she got the chance, a bullet grazed her arm and she cried out . Panicking as more shots fired around her, she yelped and balled her hands into fists. 

Instantly, the air buzzed around her. The car door she was next to seemed to collapse in on itself, forming a deep dent. A few bullets came her way and were repelled quickly, firing into brick and shattering glass windows.

Sirens came blaring down from the end of the street. Peridot squeezed her eyes shut as they roared in her ears, until-

There was the sudden sound of glass shattering, and a scream from a few feet away.

“PERIDOT!” Lapis shouted, “You _shot_ them!”

Looking around with wide eyes, she felt the magnetic field dissipate around her. Her first thought was: _wicked._

Then, her heart fell.

Most of the men had ran off, save for the ones that Lazuli had knocked out. To Peridot’s horror, she realized that she’d just deflected a bullet into the cop car that had just pulled up. Another drove up. Both officers stepped out of the car, rushing to the aid of the person _she’d_ wounded.

Lazuli gripped Peridot’s shoulder and turned her around, “What exactly do you think this is?! Quit messing around! It’s not a game- people _die!”_

“I-I was just trying to _help_ ,” she stammered.

“You could’ve _helped_ by staying out of the way! If you want to be a hero, learn when you’re not needed!”

And with that, she sped off into the starry sky, leaving Peridot’s world spinning.

* * *

She staggered into her apartment, her left arm throbbing.

Amethyst stood up from the couch and rushed forward, “Oh man, you’re bleeding.”

“I’m an _idiot_ ,” she moaned, taking a seat.

“What happened now?”

“Everything. Mostly, I made Lazuli mad..”

Peridot squeezed her eyes shut, shapeshifting her uniform into her regular clothes. Amethyst eyed the graze on her arm, which was bleeding sluggishly. 

She wasn’t concerned. All she could think about was the glare that Lapis Lazuli had given her. She’d really pissed her off..

Collapsing into the couch cushions, Peridot groaned.

“Dude, you’re getting blood on that,” Amethyst said lightly, leaving to get their first aid kit out of the closet. It’d been unopened for ages- neither of them really used it.

“Just leave me here to die,” she murmured hopelessly.

Amethyst laughed, “Peridot, I doubt it was _that_ bad. Just give her time. You’ll win her over.”

“Do you really think that?” she asked, eyes watery as her roommate walked in with some gauze and rubbing alcohol.

She gave her a knowing smile, “ _Man_ , you’ve got it bad for her.”

Peridot flushed and glared at her, “Shut up. Just give me that.”

Pulling the supplies out of Amethyst’s arms, she poured the disinfectant onto the gauze, wiping her arm with it. She bit her lip as it stung.

_“Fuck,”_ she whispered.

“Didn’t know you had it in ya, Peri.”

“I have a lot of things in me,” Peridot said softly.

“What?”

Peridot pulled out her phone as it buzzed in her pocket, ignoring the strange look her roommate was giving her. Her stomach sank as she saw the notification:

_Diamond Dept. tweeted: National City’s New Heroine- More Harm Than Good?_

She’d followed their twitter to keep an eye out for articles on, well, herself. She was hoping for more good news, but apparently not today. 

Nervously, she clicked on the link to the article:

_National City’s New Hero- More Harm Than Good?_

_By: Lola López_  
Published: 9/20/18 

_Tonight, a police officer responding to reports of gunshots downtown ended up a casualty of- not the perpetrators- but the powers of the up-and-coming hero, revealed tonight by Lapis Lazuli to be “Peridot”. In deflecting a bullet with her ferrokinetic (metal-controlling) powers, she ended up sending it into the windshield of a police cruiser.  
Both she and Lazuli left soon after. Thankfully, backup had already arrived and was able to quickly arrange for transport to the hospital. Maria Ramirez, the officer, is currently recovering from a non-fatal GSW to her right shoulder, in National City Medical Center._

She stopped reading there- the rest just explained the events leading up to it.

Great. Just great.

Peridot sank into the couch, squeezing her eyes shut against the nasty mix of both physical pain and the guilt that was twisting in her stomach. At least the cop would be fine.

As Amethyst turned on the TV, exhaustion began to take over and Peridot couldn’t dwell anymore. She let herself drift off, hoping with all her heart that she could eventually make it up to Lazuli...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! The next chapter, "Again and Again" will be out 12/25, so stay tuned! & be sure to tell me what you think of this one :D


	5. Double Vision

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peridot finds herself battling both an alien foe and Lapis Lazuli's rejection.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> merry christmas to those who celebrate it!! personally, i'm more excited for friday lolol
> 
> it's still summer in national city, so unfortunately there won't be a holiday special- not today, anyway... ;)

“You _shot_ a cop?” 

Peridot rolled her eyes at the agent’s question, “I didn’t _shoot _her, I just…Look, I wasn’t the one with the gun, okay?!”__

Pearl took a deep breath, looking like she was trying _really _hard not to yell.__

“Peridot, you just… Have to be careful with your powers, okay? You can’t have accidents like this, or no one will trust you.”

She crossed her arms. Pearl was annoyingly right. 

“Well?” 

Huffing, Peridot sighed, “Understood..” 

Pearl forced a smile, “Good. Now, we’ve got some news you’ll be interested in hearing…”

Garnet turned away from the computers, facing Peridot with a sly grin, “We’ve got an alien to catch.” 

“You’re letting me out into the field?” Peridot’s eyes grew wide as she tried to suppress a stupid grin.

“Don’t get too excited,” Pearl said smugly, “You’ll be with me.” 

Her shoulders slumped, “Oh.”

“We’re looking for a Hellgrammite,” Garnet said, ignoring Peridot’s sulking and pulling up images onto one of the computer screens.

Peridot cringed, eyeing a photo of the alien’s face. The shape was vaguely humanoid, but the resemblance ended there. It was hairless, with tawny skin and visible teeth and gums. She was glad to have passed on breakfast today.

“Gross,” she muttered.

“They’re more than just hard to look at. Hellgrammites have with sharp stingers, super-strength, and speed. The one we’re looking for killed two employees at Plastino Chemicals.” 

As if reading her mind, Garnet added, “The atmospheric conditions of a Hellgrammite’s home planet, as well as its physiology, mean that the closest thing it can get to food on Earth is DDT.”

“DDT?” 

“It’s a pesticide that was banned due to its toxicity,” Pearl answered, “Today, only confiscated amounts remain stored in certain facilities.”

Garnet nodded, “Plastino Chemicals is one of them. The alien stole some, but not all. Employees found him, and- unfortunately- he killed them and ran off. He was taking on the form of a man, but he left behind a stinger. That’s how we knew what we were up against. We’ve battled one of these creatures before.”

Peridot nodded, letting everything sink in. Now that she was thinking of it, she could vaguely recall learning about the species in her academy. But that was a long time ago…

“So, today you’ll be coming with me to investigate,” Pearl concluded, “It’s likely that he’ll return to steal the rest in order to stay alive. Familiarize yourself with the factory, and you’ll have an advantage when you confront him later.”

Raising an eyebrow, she asked, “Are they just gonna let us into the factory? Aren’t you guys covert, or whatever?”

Pearl smiled slyly and pulled out her DEO identification card. She pressed it, and it began to shimmer and change. The _Department of Extranormal Operations_ became _Federal Bureau of Information._

Peridot’s eyes lit up. Cool.

“Do I get one of those?” she asked eagerly.

Garnet nodded and handed her a card enclosed in a leather carrier. Giggling, she opened it and stared at the writing. _So official._

“Wait…” she said slowly, “How’d you get a picture of me?”

Pearl shrugged, “Amethyst’s phone.” 

“You stole-”

“Not important,” she interrupted, “We need to get going. Firstly, you have to do something about those clothes.”

Peridot raised an eyebrow and looked down at her uniform. Hmm…

She concentrated, and her jumpsuit morphed into an outfit similar to what Pearl was wearing- a black long-sleeved dress shirt, slacks, and leather shoes. Her visor shifted into her usual glasses, and her hair lengthened into its typical bun.

“Well, then…” Pearl said, looking at her curiously, “let’s go, Agent Dean.”

* * *

“You’ve gotta be kidding me.”

“ _Lazuli_ \- hey!” Peridot shouted eagerly, “Hey, Lazuli! How’s it going?”

The heroine turned to her with a hopelessly dull expression. She was standing a few feet away from the pair, right in the middle of the yellow tape- apparently where the two workers had been killed.

“What are _you_ doing here?” Pearl asked coldly.

“They let me in to investigate. You know, ‘cause I’m a hero, or whatever,” Lazuli’s eyes shifted to Peridot, “You work with _her_?”

“Well, yeah..”

Eyeing Pearl distrustfully, Lapis asked, “What’d you do, force her? Blink if you need help, Peridot.”

Peridot stared blankly, “Uh-”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Pearl cut in, “She’s working with us _voluntarily_ because we’re a lawful organization. Not vigilantes.” 

“What’s so lawful about a place that captures and imprisons aliens against their will?”

“We do it to protect humanity! The only aliens we keep are the ones that have killed people.” 

“I didn’t.” Lapis said coolly. 

Peridot felt her blood run cold- it was as if the air had dropped a couple degrees. She realized, finally, Lazuli’s gripe with the DEO. They’d imprisoned her...

Nervously, she glanced back and forth between Pearl and Lazuli. 

“Look,” she began cautiously, “can’t we just put whatever happened between you two behind us? Why not work together? We’re all here for the same reason!” 

“I don’t trust her,” Lapis said darkly, “And you’re more trouble than you’re worth.” 

Peridot’s face flushed, “Last night was an accident!”

“How many more accidents will it take for you to realize that _you’re in over your head?”_

She stepped over the yellow tape, heading for the exit. Peridot stood frozen, her stomach sinking.

Before she could leave, Peridot called out, “Wait, Lazuli!”

The heroine turned around, giving her an irritated look, “What?”

“It’s a Hellgrammite,” she said, “The alien.” 

“Agent _Dean_ -”

“They can disguise themselves as human. Just… be careful, okay?”

Lazuli’s expression softened into an unreadable one. Almost.. grateful? Wordlessly, she nodded and left. 

Peridot stood still, feeling nauseated. She took a breath and turned back to Pearl.

“You guys imprisoned her.” 

“That was a mistake,” Pearl said softly, “We were worried she was working with the enemy. She’s powerful- we couldn’t risk it.”

“That’s the same reason you captured me,” she replied listlessly. 

“Peridot..” 

“Whatever- it’s not important,” she muttered, “We’re supposed to be investigating, right?”

She nodded, and Peridot tried to put her newfound reserves aside. Together, they made their way towards where the DDT was kept. Sure enough, there was still a fair amount that the alien had missed.

Peridot looked around. There was so much metal in the factory that her senses were buzzing nonstop. 

Some metal barrels, scattered tools, equipment, and machinery- it was the perfect place for her to fight. She almost felt bad for the alien. This’ll be easy.

After some investigating, Pearl showed her to where the Hellgrammite had likely entered in from, and where Peridot would wait for it. 

“Tonight,” she began, “You’ll be staking out the facility. Hopefully, he’ll come back and you’ll be able to capture him.”

“You’re leaving me alone?”

Pearl nodded, “We can’t have a team monitoring all night- it’ll be too obvious. Your job is to stay near and pay attention to anything that sounds out of place. Then, come back inside and subdue him.”

She unhooked the duty belt from around her waist and handed it to Peridot. 

“There’s a special kind of handcuffs attached,” Pearl said, pointing out the pair, “It’ll dampen the alien’s powers. Cuff him once he’s knocked out, so he won’t be a threat when he wakes up.”

Peridot nodded, placing the belt around her waist. Honestly, she liked the look.

“If you need any backup, just contact us through your comms. I’ll be on the mic the whole time." 

* * *

Peridot was midway through her cheeseburger when she heard a commotion inside the factory. Leaving her value meal behind, she rushed towards the source of the sound. Her jaw dropped.

The Hellgrammite- shapeshifted into a tall, brown-haired man- had Lapis Lazuli pinned to one of the machines, sharp stinger pointing towards her throat. Peridot’s heart pounded.

His strength probably matched Lazuli’s. She didn’t have her usual advantage. 

With a hard wave of her hand, she knocked the man away from Lazuli using a hook that was dangling from the ceiling. 

Lazuli stared, wide-eyed at Peridot, “You just-”

She grinned, “Thank me later.” 

The Hellgrammite recovered quickly- he got to his feet and aimed a hit towards Peridot. She stumbled out of the way.

“I’m not looking for any trouble, alright?! I just need to eat!” 

Peridot stared blankly at him, “You killed two people!”

“Collateral damage! Now, get out of my way or it’ll be three!”

She realized she was blocking the way out. With a glare, she asserted, “Not gonna happen.”

Before Peridot could even react, he grabbed her shoulders and pushed her out of the way, slamming the back of her head right into metal machinery. 

Instantly, her vision went blurry and her skull seemed to be splitting open. All she could do was groan.

Blackness fought at the edges of her eyes, but she forced herself to stay conscious. Squeezing her eyes shut, Peridot swung a nearby piece of machinery into the back of the alien’s head. 

Now he’d know how it feels, she thought idly, crumpling to the ground. 

Her vision went black.

* * *

_“Peridot… Peridot!”_

Someone was shaking her. She didn’t want to wake up- she had the worst headache imaginable.

“Oh, you’d better not be dead.”

Peridot peeled her eyes open. She felt like she’d gotten hit by a bus.

“What happened…?” she asked groggily, looking at the two Lapis Lazuli’s in her vision. 

“You don’t remember?”

“I…” Slowly, her vision began to clear enough for her to make out Lapis. She was frowning, her eyebrows furrowed in worry and eyes as deep a blue as always. Peridot formed her mouth into a tired smile, gazing up at the hero’s face and giggling, “You’re pretty.”

Colour flushing into her cheeks, Lazuli glared, “And you’re concussed.”

“Concussed?” Groggily, Peridot fought to find the words, “Concussion... _Oh_ , past participle..”

“I think we should get you to-... Wait, what on Earth is a _participle_?” 

“It’s a-” Peridot squeezed her eyes shut, clutching her head as it gave a particularly painful throb, “I’ll tell you later…”

Wearily, Peridot leaned in order to see the blurry lump behind Lapis- presumably the Hellgrammite. She fumbled for the handcuffs on her belt.

“What are you doing?”

“Gotta… put these on him,” she murmured, “So he won’t be a threat..”

“Oh, give me those,” Lapis said, huffing, “You’re in no condition to do it yourself..”

“Lazuli,” she slurred as said alien grabbed the handcuffs from her, “Concerned?”

Lapis scoffed, pulling the Hellgrammite’s arms behind him and attaching the cuffs to his wrists.

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

Peridot tried to stand up, but a wave of dizziness slammed her and she nearly collapsed. Lapis rushed forward in time to catch her.

“Peridot?!” 

She giggled, “Heh… you _do_ care…”

“Oh, quiet,” Lapis said as she lowered her back onto the floor, “I’d just feel bad about you killing yourself because you… saved me. Thanks, by the way...” 

Peridot stared at her. Lapis huffed, averting her eyes and blushing.

“Don’t look at me like that.”

She giggled dreamily at the heroine, until-

_“Peridot?!”_

A sudden, shrill voice sounded in her ear. Peridot groaned as her headache worsened, “Pearl, you _suck_ …!”

_“Excuse me-?!”_

Lapis grabbed the earpiece from her, speaking into it, “Homegirl got herself a concussion. Come and clean up your mess.”

_“Lapis? Is the alien subdued?”_

“Yeah. No thanks to you.”

_“...I’ll be there soon.”_

Peridot gazed tiredly as Lapis attached the bluetooth back onto her ear.

“Pearl’s coming,” she said, with an unfamiliar gentleness, “So don’t worry.”

“I'm not worried.”

Lapis stared at her with a frown, “I would’ve been fine, you know..”

Raising an eyebrow, she replied, “Funny.. That’s what I told you when I almost got mugged.”

Lapis blinked. Eventually, her lips formed a small smile, and she rolled her eyes, “You’re right.” 

Peridot grinned stupidly, “Of course I am.” 

“I guess there’s a first time for everything.”

“Hey!” she protested, wincing at the loudness of her own voice.

Lapis smirked at her, “Why are you yelling at me? I’m right.”

“Shut up…” Peridot mumbled, rubbing the back of her head.

“Okay, okay.. Take it easy.” 

“Fine..”

* * *

Lapis waited beside her until Pearl showed up, the two sitting in silence as Peridot’s headache began to worsen. She started feeling ill.

Eventually, she looked up to see the pale blur of a hand reaching out to her. Pearl pulled her up onto her feet.

Before Peridot could do anything, a particularly painful twinge hit her and she was overwhelmed by nausea. She doubled over and threw up all over Pearl’s shoes.

The agent’s jaw dropped open, _“Peridot!”_

She was vaguely aware of Lapis bursting into laughter beside her. Gripping her stomach, Peridot looked up to see her superior’s red face- with an expression formed into an intimidating mix of horror and anger.

“‘m so sorry…”

Lapis laughed sweetly as Pearl fumed, “You know what, Peridot? You’re not that bad after all.”

“ _Lazuli!_ This isn’t funny!”

“Oh, Pearl, get the stick out of your ass. It’s pretty funny. Karmic, even.”

Peridot smiled gratefully at her, wiping her mouth. Lapis returned the smile, as subtle as it was.

“Hey, feel better. I’ll... see you around.”

* * *

Hours later, after the alien had been locked up at the DEO and Pearl dropped her off back home, Peridot lay on her bed with an ice pack pressed to the back of her skull.

Despite her throbbing headache, she was completely overjoyed. _You’re not that bad after all,_ Lapis had said… She was in the clear again. 

At least, Peridot hoped that was the hero’s way of forgiving her.

Just as she began to drift off, she heard a knock at her window. Peridot slid out of bed carefully and walked over.

Lapis was hovering right behind the glass, a sly smile on her face. Peridot opened the window for her, and she peeked inside.

“How’s your head?” she asked curiously, “Does it still hurt?”

Blushing, Peridot muttered, “It’s okay.” 

A gust of cool night air blew in, and they looked at each other in a comfortable silence. After a few moments, Peridot spoke up timidly, “So, uh… Are you still mad at me?”

Lapis cleared her throat, looking to the side, “No, I… I was wrong about you. You have potential.” 

Her face spread into a wide, bright grin, “I do?”

“Don’t get too full of yourself…” she huffed, “I just mean- you don’t suck, okay?”

Peridot giggled, “I’ll take what I can get.” 

“Oh, you’re unbelievable…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "fill my eyes... with that double vision!" (the foreigners, anybody?) so, yeah, I changed the title to a song i found more fitting.. for obvious reasons hehehe. 
> 
> thanks for reading!! be sure to tune back in for "drama", coming out 1/8 !!


	6. Drama

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peridot and Lapis' collaboration has a rocky start.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> pretend it's still tuesday.... sorry this was late! school has been trying to kill me since we got back from break ;-; 
> 
> anyways, chapter title is from the song "drama" by AJR! they're a bop. hope you enjoy this one & def check out the song too! :D

Getting punched in the face wasn’t exactly Peridot’s ideal start to the day. 

“ _Hey!”_ she gasped, clutching her nose, “Rude!”

Her foe- a woman clad in leather with fiery red hair and an equally fiery glare- rolled her eyes, “Is that the best you can do?”

“No!” Peridot affirmed, sending a fist towards the woman. 

She grabbed her hand and shoved her to the ground. As Peridot tried to collect her bearings, she looked up to see a blaze ignite in the woman’s hand. So much for a standard robbery.

Peridot yelped un-heroically, swinging her hand towards her enemy and sending the nearest vehicle flying into her. Instinctually, she tried to deflect with her powers- and the car lit on fire.

_Shit, shit, shit._

Now, an intense blaze stood between her and the alien- who was quickly making her escape. Peridot stared in horror as she was reminded, horrifically, of her home planet’s fiery destruction.

Then, she felt herself get soaked with water and managed to snap out of her stupor. Peridot looked up in confusion and then relaxed; Lapis was on top of the now-extinguished vehicle, smiling down at her.

“Don’t you have an alien to catch?”

Huffing, Peridot jumped to her feet and rushed after her. With a flap of her water wings, Lazuli flew ahead and knocked the alien to the ground.

Peridot crossed her arms, “Hey- I had her!”

“Oh, yeah, you totally did.”

She kneeled beside the woman, blushing lightly as she cuffed her, “Well… thanks.”

Lapis shrugged, “I saw you light a car on fire and thought- why not join the fun?”

“I didn’t light it on fire!”

Peridot tried to ignore Lapis’ smug expression as she spoke to Pearl through her mic, “Got the hostile.”

* * *

As Pearl turned to face them, Peridot greeted her with a smile. She didn’t return it.

Lapis and Peridot had taken the unconscious alien into a nearby alleyway, hoping to avoid any nosy pedestriations. Pearl had arrived shortly after to take her to the DEO.

Furrowing her eyebrows at the both of them, she said, “You two! You need to be more- why are you _wet?”_

Peridot pointed her thumb to Lapis.

Pearl rolled her eyes, “Of course.”

“Pearl, lighten up,” Peridot huffed, “We got the bad guy!”

“Not before letting her scorch half the street. _You_ could’ve done better.” 

Lapis narrowed her eyes at Pearl, who’d glanced to her at that last statement, “Hey, I don’t work for you. Besides, _she’s_ the one who made that car get destroyed.” 

“That was an accident!” Peridot protested, “I was.. shielding my face.”

“With a 3,000 pound Toyota?”

“I saved the day! You’re welcome!”

Pearl gave her an unfriendly expression, but didn’t push further. Once she’d left with the alien, Peridot kicked a nearby empty soda can. It slammed against the wall of a building hard enough to dent it.

“Crap.”

“ _Profanity_ ,” Lapis teased, walking up behind her, “Geez, what’d the wall do to you?”

Peridot huffed, “Shut up. That was an accident...”

“You seem to have a lot of those.”

“Excuse me?” Peridot was starting to get tired of the both of them.

“I’m just _saying_ -”

Lapis cut off, staring blankly at Peridot.

“ _What?_ ” she asked, feeling self-conscious, “What is it _n-_ ”

“You’re bleeding.”

She stared at her, and Lapis pointed to her nose. Peridot brought a hand to it and her glove came back bloodied.

“Oh..”

Probably from the alien’s punch earlier. At least she’d managed to not get burned.

Covering her nose, she murmured, “How do I stop it?”

“Pinch your nose and lean forward.”

Peridot stared at her, “Are you joking?”

“ _No_ ,” Lapis said, rolling her eyes, “just do it.”

She did as instructed, looking up awkwardly at Lapis. The heroine gave her a small wave.

“Hey…”

“What?” Peridot asked, more nasally than ever with her nose pinched.

“You weren’t bad today. Pearl was being overdramatic.”

“It’s not like you jumped to my defense.”

Lapis frowned, then took a breath:

“I know, but… I wasn’t wrong. You _do_ have a lot of accidents. You can’t fully control your powers yet, can you?”

“Um…” Peridot felt her face burn and was glad to already be looking at the ground.

“It’s okay, I’m not judging you,” Lapis said lightly, “You’re new. I get it.”

Peridot sighed, “I’ve been training with _Pearl_ … but I feel like it hasn’t done anything.”

“Pearl’s useless. But, y’know...” she began, “I could help you get better.”

Peridot looked up at her with wide eyes, “You’d do that?”

Lapis shrugged, glancing away from her and- blushing? 

“Sure. Gotta protect any future vehicles from your unbridled rage.” 

“Hey!”

She laughed softly, “Relax. I’m kidding. You free now?” 

Peridot nodded. Before she could ask where they’d be going to train, Lapis picked her up bridal-style and shot off into the sky.

_“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!”_

* * *

“A _warning_ would’ve been nice,” Peridot muttered, trying to collect her bearings. Lapis had flown her to an empty construction site on the other side of town. It looked like the project had been abandoned, but there was still a dusty-looking truck crane. The skies were overcast above them.

“Oh, don’t be overdramatic, you’re _fine_. At least your hair dried.”

Peridot opened her mouth to respond, before noticing Lapis’ sly smile. She was a little concerned.

“So… how are we gonna do this?”

Lapis didn’t answer. She made a hard flick of her wrist, and before Peridot could react- water sprayed in her face from an exposed pipe. 

As she blinked out the water in her eyes, Lapis forced her to the ground with a strong kick.

_“Lazuli!”_

Her face appeared in Peridot’s vision, grinning mischievously, “What? You wanna train, right?”

Huffing, Peridot nodded. 

She rolled away from Lapis before the heroine could pin her to the ground, looking around frantically for something to use. She spotted a forgotten piece of metal and sent it towards Lapis- who put a palm out in front of her and summoned a shield of water. It froze and shattered once the metal hit. 

Peridot stared at Lapis, her eyes wide. She didn’t even look fazed.

“Get up.” 

Quickly, Peridot stumbled to her feet, “This isn’t exactly what I had in mind-” 

Rope-like cylinders of water curled around Peridot’s ankles, and before she could even scream, Lapis launched her across the site.

Miraculously, Peridot landed in a way where she didn’t break anything. She forced herself up, heart pounding, “Lazuli! Are you even going to give me a _chance_?!’ 

“Why?” the woman asked softly, “your enemies won’t. You need to be prepared. Focused.”

Peridot got to her feet, staring at Lapis in disbelief. She was acting just like Pearl, and it was kind of scary.

Lapis flicked her wrist, and water sprayed out of the exposed pipes near Peridot’s feet. She twirled her finger and it wrapped around her legs like rope. 

Peridot tried to move, and she nearly fell. She gaped at Lapis- she’d put her palms out to freeze Peridot in place.

“You’re gonna face enemies who are much more powerful than you,” Lapis said, approaching her slowly, “if you fight like , they’ll crush you.”

“I’m trying my best!”

“Try _better_.”

Peridot felt her face flush in anger. She didn’t even see her as a threat! 

“Your best isn’t good enough.”

Peridot had to restrain herself from yelling. She felt her anger building- Lazuli didn’t respect her. She’d thought the hero was warming up to her, but apparently not. What happened to her having potential?

She was just like that _Lola López_ \- finding any reason to criticize her. Pearl was the same. They didn’t have any faith in her abilities…

She was tired of it.

“Ooh, you look mad.”

Peridot glared at her, “I’m not mad!”

Lapis smiled at her, watching her attempt to struggle out of the ice, “No, it’s good. That’ll help.”

She stared, bemused. Before she had time to think, Lapis held both of her hands out, and pulled them into fists. Peridot coughed as the air became dry. 

A massive wall of water formed in front of Lazuli- drawn from the air, pipes, everything around them. Lapis forced her hands forward, and Peridot felt anxiety twist in her stomach.

The water formed into sharp shards of ice, hurtling towards Peridot. Her heart pounded, but at the same time she felt anger burn in her chest. She was _not_ going to lose.

With a shriek, Peridot thrust her hands forward. There was a loud thump, and the sound of glass and ice shattering.

Peridot opened her eyes, which she’d squeezed shut out of fear- and stared in awe at the scene before her.

A massive crane truck was turned on its side in front of her, separating Peridot and Lazuli- who, to her surprise, had fallen backwards onto the ground. Peridot looked at her own feet and noticed her legs were free. The ice had broken. 

Panting, Peridot looked at Lapis with wide eyes. Did she actually manage to hurt her?

Before she could grow too concerned, Lapis got to her feet, laughing.

“Good job. That’s what I wanted to see,” Lazuli said as she flew up over the truck, landing in front of Peridot.

“W-what?”

“Anger can be a powerful thing,” she began, smiling, “don’t be afraid of it.”

Peridot tried to catch her breath, “That was your plan the whole time? To get me _mad_?”

“Well, yeah,” Lapis shrugged, “I was... _inspiring_ you.”

She glared at her and crossed her arms.

“Oh, don’t get so upset. Look at what you can _do_!” 

Lapis gestured to the scene before them. Shattered pieces of ice and glass littered the ground, and bits of metal stuck out from the badly dented vehicle. Peridot was a little unnerved by the damage she’d caused. 

“That truck's way heavier than the car you threw today.”

Slowly, Peridot felt her anger begin to dissipate. She started to smile, “You’re right…”

“Of course I am,” Lapis said, smirking, “Most of the mistakes you’ve made came from fear. You ended up panicking. If you can let go of fear and channel anger instead, you can do stuff like this all the time.”

“Is that what you do?”

Lapis nodded, “I have a lot to be mad about.”

Peridot stared at her.

“Don’t worry about it,” she said lightly, “Anyways, remember what I said. You’re not bad, Peridot. You don’t have to be afraid.”

“I’m not afraid…”

“Haven’t you ever noticed that you scream a lot?”

Peridot nudged her, holding back a smile, “Shut up.”

“You know I’m right.”

Lapis stuck her hand out, “Ready to go home?”

Peridot nodded, and this time she was ready to be flown into the sky.

* * *

“Uh, this isn’t my-”

“Give me a minute,” 

Lapis set Peridot down in an inconspicuous place beside the apartment complex, and flew up into a window. The sun had set during their flight, so Lapis didn’t have to be so sneaky.

Peridot tapped her foot as she waited, wondering _what_ in the world was so important for Lapis to get before taking Peridot home. 

She raised an eyebrow once Lapis returned, holding some white and green package. It looked like something from the frozen section at a grocery store.

The heroine presented it to Peridot.

“ _Peas?_ ”

“For your nose.”

Peridot blinked at her. 

Lapis smiled sympathetically, “It’s starting to swell.”

She touched it, only just noticing it was still messed up from earlier. _Great._

“..Thanks.”

* * *

As Peridot stepped into her apartment, Amethyst gaped at her from the couch.

“Dude, what _happened_ to you?”

She stared curiously at Amethyst, “What do you mean?”

“Your face is all bloody.”

She dropped her peas on a side table and stepped into the bathroom, her eyes widening. Right. She never wiped the blood off, did she?

Peridot groaned, “I was with _Lazuli_ like this...”

Immediately, Amethyst seemed to perk up, “You were with Lapis today?”

Feeling her cheeks burn, she responded, “U-uh, yeah..”

“What happened?” Amethyst asked, wiggling her eyebrows, “You guys a thing now?”

“No! We’re just…” Peridot paused, not knowing exactly what _they_ were, “uh, she was helping me.”

“She probably likes you. I’m calling it.”

Groaning, Peridot ducked her head down and pulled the door closed with her powers. 

Lapis didn’t _like_ her- she'd nearly killed her today! 

Still... she _did_ seem a lot more friendly lately.

Peridot sighed as she phased out of her uniform and into the oversized alien t-shirt she’d taken to wearing as pajamas. She looked into the mirror to wipe the remnants of her nosebleed off, and was met with cheeks flushed a bright cyan.

Ugh. Alien physiology.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ayyyy the blue blush is canon !! i actually made a comic drabble of that idea a while ago, but i was debating on whether or not to go thru with it; a little note: peridot's visor usually obscures it, so lapis has yet to see up close.. ;)
> 
> another note: the opening scene tells us that the fight was as the very start of peri's day... but seemingly only several hours later, the sun sets.. basically, i'm implying she woke up at like 2pm that day lolol. 
> 
> thank you for reading ! please consider leaving a comic below, even if it's really short- i live for them!! 
> 
> next chapter ("lowlife") should be out 1/22 so be sure to stay updated!


	7. Lowlife

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peridot finds herself in need of a job.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello again everyone! that episode last night... wow. now that we're officially into another hiatus, i hope this au will help pass the time ;D 
> 
> (title is from "lowlife" by that poppy... who's the highlight of peri's lowlife? ;)

_“NOOO!”_

Peridot stared, horrified at her newly broken cell phone. Cracks like spiderwebs spread across its black screen. A few bits were completely missing. 

Damn it… 

It been in her back pocket, and got crushed in the midst of a fight. She’d gotten slammed to the ground and shattered it against the street.

Sighing, Peridot hoped it wouldn’t be too hard to buy another one.

  


* * *

  


“I can’t buy you a new phone.”

“What?” Peridot asked hopelessly, “why not?” 

“Because warranty doesn’t cover you _falling_ on it, dude. And I’m still paying it off.” 

“Just _stop_ paying it off, then.”

“Do you know how money works?”

“Not really!”

Amethyst laughed, “Fair. But anyways, I’m a cop. We don’t get paid _that_ much. Why do you think you still sleep on a futon?”

Peridot frowned, “What’s wrong with that?”

“The point is, I can only afford so much, Peri. You’re gonna have to wait if you want a new phone.”

She sighed. Amethyst was right.

But… she thought, if Amethyst couldn’t buy it, maybe _she_ could.

  


* * *

  


Peridot shifted awkwardly where she stood. Garnet didn’t exactly _scare_ her, but she always felt unnerved by the woman for some reason. It always felt like she was analyzing Peridot’s every move.

“What is it?”

“Can I get documentation?” she blurted out.

The DEO didn’t pay her. It was more of a partnership than an employment, as Pearl had so kindly put it. 

According to her, it was “unethical” to get paid for being a superhero. Whatever that means. 

Garnet faced her, making an unreadable expression- _as usual_ , “Why are you asking now?”

She sighed, “I need a job. Like, one with decent pay.” 

To Peridot’s surprise, she smiled, “It’s good to see you wanting to take on more responsibility. We’ve actually been working to get you documentation since you joined.” 

Her eyes lit up, “You have?”

“Of course. Fortunately… People are a lot more understanding in your case... The process usually takes _a lot_ longer, but we were able to pull a few strings… As of yesterday: you’re an official citizen.”

“Really?” Peridot asked, grinning, “Why’d you wait to tell me?”

Garnet shrugged, “We wanted to make sure it going to work out. We also wanted to make sure you were ready.”

Peridot didn’t really know what that meant, but she was too excited to care. Garnet led her to a room and pulled out a file from one of the cabinets. It was filled with everything she needed- a fake birth certificate, ID, SS number... She giggled quietly, feeling like a weight had been lifted off of her; Amethyst had once warned her about what can happen to those found without papers, and she wasn’t eager to go through any of that.

Peridot sighed contently; she could get a _job._ She wouldn’t have to feel guilty for everything Amethyst had to buy for her.

  


* * *

  


Getting a job was hard. 

Peridot applied to at least ten places- with assistance from Pearl, of all people- before she finally got a call back from the assistant’s position at Diamond Dept. Huh. Maybe Pearl was good with resumes.

Hmm.. if she landed the job, she could probably find out who that _Lola_ person was, and tell her to stuff it.

  


* * *

  


As Peridot walked out of the elevator to her interview, she felt her heart pound. All of the tips she’d found online swirled in her mind- _have a strong handshake, act confident, good posture…_

Defeat a superpowered alien twice? No problem. Interview for a job? Now _that_ was scary.

Peridot hadn’t ever needed an interview. It didn’t work like that on Homeworld- you were sort of born into your job. For her most of her life, she was taught and trained to be a technician. When she’d reached maturity, she’d gotten her first assignment. 

Needless to say, Peridot was nervous. She took one last deep breath before stepping into the office of the infamous _Yvonne Diamond_ , the company’s CEO and founder. 

“Oh, great, another millennial.” 

The woman’s dull voice greeted her. She had short, styled blonde hair and stern features. Peridot met her brown eyes, which looked gold and piercing in the morning sunlight.

“Now, tell me, what makes you so special? What sort of _self-love nonsense_ have you been taught that makes you think you’re the one for this job?”

Peridot stared at her. She didn’t expect the woman to be in such... _a mood_. Google definitely didn’t prepare her for this.

“Well?”

“N-nothing,” Peridot blurted out, “I’m just another, average human. I’m not special at all.”

To her surprise, Miss Diamond’s expression softened into one of curiosity. She raised an eyebrow, “Go on…”

Taking a seat, Peridot felt her confidence grow, “I’m not unique, or special, or anything other than… human. But I am hardworking.”

Miss Diamond eyed her, “You should know: I expect full commitment from an assistant. I won’t tolerate anything less than optimal effort. Do you really think you’re up for that? Are you willing to sacrifice your time and energy to be my assistant?”

“I am,” Peridot said, “I had a job like that before... At the very least, it let me feel like did _something_ productive to society. When the company... shut down, I lost that. Slacking isn’t who I am, Miss Diamond. I want to be useful. I want to work for you.”

She took a shaky breath, looking nervously at the CEO. Miraculously, she seemed pleased. Or at least not as irritated as she’d been when Peridot first walked in.

“I have plenty other candidates to consider. However, Penelope…”

She perked up.

“Expect a call in the next couple of days.”

Peridot left her office with a wide grin on her face. She wasn’t sure if she’d be hired, but for the first time in a while, she felt good about her chances.

  


* * *

  


Peridot rushed into the office building, carrying the large latte that Miss Diamond had asked her to bring in. _Of course_ the woman had called back at seven in the morning to tell her to come into work _that day._

Narrowly, she avoided stumbling over her heels on her way to the elevator. Peridot got inside, taking a deep breath. It was 8:50am. She had time…

  


* * *

  


“ _What_ is this?”

Peridot blinked at her boss, who had her face twisted in disgust after just one sip. Stammering, she replied, “Uh- the latte you asked me for?”

“Is this _whole milk_? Calliope, I specifically asked for skim.”

She stared blankly at her- _there were different types of milk?_ Why’d it even matter?

“Um, my bad… And, it’s Penelope…” 

Miss Diamond dropped the drink straight into the trash bin beside her desk, “I expect the right drink tomorrow. And I expect you to listen to _all_ of what I say. But, moving on…”

She dropped a stack of papers into Peridot’s hand, “I need these sorted and filed alphabetically in the cabinet next to my desk. Have them done by eleven.”

Peridot nodded slowly, “Yes, Miss Diamond…”

 _Alphabetically_ … Ugh, of all the tasks she needed to do. 

It wasn’t like Peridot didn’t know the alphabet. Amethyst had taught it to her months ago. Still… she couldn’t remember the order of the letters without thinking about that song. 

Needless to say, it was slow work. 

Peridot finished 50 minutes late, and was given a look of irritation from her boss. Miraculously, she didn’t berate her again; she simply sighed and told her to go and pick up a healthy lunch.

When Peridot came back with a burger and fries, she was met with the coldest of all stares.

“Calliope, do you even _know_ what healthy means?”

No?

“Y-yeah… I’m sorry, it won’t happen again.”

Miss Diamond pinched the bridge of her nose and exhaled, “It better not.”

Standing up, she handed Peridot a file, “I need the notice inside copied and sent to each of the departments. Can you manage that?”

Peridot nodded assuredly, “Of course, Miss Diamond.”

  


* * *

  


Peridot huffed, groaning and smacking the buttons of the copy machine, “Stupid.. primitive..-” 

“Need some help?”

Peridot all but shrieked, jumping up and looking to whoever spoke.

Her jaw dropped. 

A beautiful woman stood beside her, dressed in a long-sleeved blue crop top and floral pencil skirt. Her hair was styled slightly different, with most of her fringe pinned behind her ears, but her blue eyes were unmistakable- 

“ _La_ -?!”

Lapis Lazuli clamped a hand over her mouth, speaking in a hushed voice, “Shut up before you out me to the entire _building_.” 

Peridot nodded slowly. Finally, Lazuli removed her hand.

“You _work_ here?”

Smiling slyly, the woman stuck out her hand for Peridot to shake:

“Lola López. It’s nice to meet you.”

Her eyes went even wider, “ _You?_ You’re...-”

“Use your words, Dean.”

Peridot covered her face as she felt her cheeks flush, and glared, “What is _wrong_ with you?! All this time- _you’ve_ been the one trashing, uh, Peridot!”

She rolled her eyes, “I’m not trashing her. I’m just being honest. That’s what reporters _do._ Usually.”

“You couldn’t have been a little more sympathetic?! She’s trying her best!”

Lapis shrugged looking amused by Peridot’s irritation, “My readers don’t need fluff. But, forget about this- we’ll talk later. I heard you’re Miss Diamond’s new assistant. Why are you down here?”

Peridot huffed, glancing back angrily at the copy machine, “I was _trying_ to print copies, but this _useless_ hunk of primitive Earth technology wasn’t cooperating!” 

Lapis took one look at the machine, and smirked at Peridot, “It needs more paper.”

“Oh,” she said, blinking, “of course…”

“It’s okay,” Lapis said idly, filling it up with printer paper, “it’s pretty weird. But don’t worry- you’ll get used to the Earth tech. You’ll get used to _her_ , too.”

Peridot looked up at her in awe. She was actually being _nice_ … 

She couldn’t understand this girl- dissing her on paper, and coaching her in real life? Ugh, sometimes Peridot missed the loveless life she had on Homeworld. It was far less confusing, at least.

Lapis rolled her eyes, blushing lightly, “Quit staring already.”

She picked up the stack of copies and handed them to Peridot, who was still giving her a blank look, “Here. Hurry up so Miss Diamond won’t get pissed at you.” 

“Uh… thanks.”

Lapis gave her a smile, “No problem. See you around, _Penelope._ ”

  


* * *

  


“Why are you _smiling_?”

Peridot forced her expression back to a neutral one, “I’m not smiling.” 

“Okay, well, whatever- did you do as I asked?”

She gave Miss Diamond a nod.

“Good… Well, you’re dismissed. Be back at nine tomorrow.”

Peridot said an awkward goodbye, and then turned to step out of her office.

Lapis was standing a foot away from her with a smile, “Hey.”

Peridot yelped, flinching at her sudden voice.

“Why are you so _jumpy?”_

“I’m not! What do you want, anyway?”

The woman smiled, sticking out her hand, “I said we’d talk, didn’t I? Let’s go. We can grab dinner at the diner near here.”

Peridot felt like her heart was going to rip out of her chest. Lazuli was inviting her to _dinner?_

It sounded unbelievably like a _date._

It didn’t help that Lazuli seemed to be asking Peridot to hold her hand. 

“Uh, Peridot? You look pale…”

She snapped out of her thoughts, squeaking, “I’m fine!”

Lapis laughed at her, and Peridot felt her nerves begin to slip away at the sound. 

“Well, as long as you don’t throw up again...”

“Hey!” Peridot huffed, “That was a while ago! Let’s just... go already.”

Begrudgingly, she grabbed the woman’s hand.

  


* * *

  


Lapis took her to a casual diner close to the office. 

The setting was unfamiliar to Peridot. Amethyst seemed to opt for takeout or delivery rather than dining in, and they didn’t have many diners like this one close by anyway. 

The pair sat in a quiet corner. Peridot looked up at Lapis, and muttered, “I don’t have money.”

Lapis smiled at her, “Don’t worry about it.” 

She stood up, and headed to the front to order for them. She returned a few minutes later with what looked like two milkshakes.

Peridot tried not to look too excited as one was handed to her, “I won’t let the whole Lola thing go just because you buy me food…”

“I know,” she said softly, “so, let’s talk.” 

Peridot took a slow sip, eyeing Lapis, “First of all… How does no one else recognize you? You have _blue hair._ ”

She laughed, “Do you think dyed hair is all that uncommon in this city? Besides, I wear a mask.” 

“Okay, well…” Peridot muttered, “fair enough, then. But-”

Lapis smirked at her, and she felt herself shrinking under her gaze.

Peridot pressed her palms together and inhaled, “Explain something to me…”

“Hm?”

“ _Why_ are you so critical? Do you hate me, or something?”

“I don’t _hate_ you, Peridot. Sure, I probably could’ve been a _little_ less negative, but hey- at least it got your name out there.”

She squinted at Lapis, who was still smirking, “Yeah, in the worst light possible…”

“Look,” she began softly, “I admit- I had some reserves about you… I couldn’t trust you right away. If I did, and ended up being wrong about you…”

Lapis sighed, “I couldn’t take the risk. I’ve been through enough to know to protect myself. I _had_ to be critical.”

Peridot felt her anger slowly begin to ebb away. She was starting to see Lapis less like a cold hearted vigilante, and more like someone who’d been hurt before. She’d thought the hero was completely fearless and brave, but in reality...

She was scared. She was afraid of letting herself become vulnerable. Peridot could understand that.

Lapis wasn’t so bad after all. Neither was Lola.

Leaning back in her seat, Peridot wiggled her eyebrows, “So you’re saying you trust me now?”

Her cheeks seemed to colour, “I didn’t say _that._ But, y’know, I guess you’re kind of growing on me.”

Peridot felt her face light up and spread into a grin, “I am?”

She scoffed, “You’re such a nerd.”

For once, it didn’t feel like an insult. She giggled.

Their food came a few minutes later, but Peridot was far more interested in Lapis’ deep blue eyes and flushed brown skin than the entree she’d ordered. Maybe losing her whole world was worth it. She couldn’t imagine never having met the stunning hero in front of her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you so much for reading! be sure to leave a comment, i would love to know how you all feel about this chapter :D 
> 
> also, fun fact: peridot is lactose intolerant (oops, no cows on homeworld)
> 
> let's just say she didn't have the best time once she got home lmao
> 
> /// next chapter comes out 2/5! be sure to stay updated & check out my tumblr @kind-of-trash for some supergirl au art :D
> 
> STEVEN UNIVERSE SPOILER !!!!!!!!!!!!  
> omgosh guys, i cannot believe peridot riding into battle on her trash can lid is canon lmaooo shout out to my pilot! i almost screamed omg. supergirl au is real


	8. Sweater Weather

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Flu season comes to National City.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is so so long for no reason lmao.. but i'm super happy with how it came out! hope you all enjoy :)
> 
> chapter title- "sweater weather" by the neighborhood

Autumn had hit National City with surprising fervor: the onset of colder months had brought with it clouds and unusually cold wind. Though the temperature had yet to fall very low, Peridot was already feeling chilled by the recent weather- even National City’s mild fall was almost freezing compared to the hot climate of her home planet.

She shuddered in her flimsy jacket as she stepped into the elevator. Resisting a groan, she was reminded of another thing that the cooler weather had brought- flu season. 

Peridot was getting beyond tired of the constant sniffling around her. Why were humans so _weak?_

Thank Rao for her alien physiology- she’d lasted almost eight months without a _single_ sniffle, yet her co-workers seemed to be dropping like flies. Gross, mucous-y flies. 

Peridot was practically ecstatic when she finally got to her floor and stepped out of the crowded germy space. 

Making her way to the desk in front of her boss’ office, she shuffled through the files of paperwork she’d been assigned and hoped she hadn’t forgotten anything. 

Her concentration was disrupted when she slammed into something warm.

The files slipped out of her hands. Peridot groaned, looking up at whatever employee she’d just walked into.

Lapis Lazuli. Of course.

“Hey, watch where you’re- _Peridot?”_

“Yes, that is my name,” she replied stiffly, crouching to pick up the folders that lay scattered on the ground.

Peridot brought a hand to her mouth and coughed. She’d been doing that lately- the cold air seemed to dry her throat out, but it wasn’t anything to worry about.

“Jeez, you look awful,” Lapis commented, crouching down to help her pick up the folders.

“Wow, thanks…”

“But seriously-” the woman added, as they stood up straight, “You okay?”

She sighed, “I’m fine. Just tired. I stayed up until four doing all this for Miss Diamond...”

Lapis stared at her, “You stayed up until _four?_ It’s six!” 

“Yeah, I know what time it is…” she muttered, yawning, “Why are _you_ here so early, anyway?”

“I’m trying to break a story before some other news source does. It’s of your fight last night, actually. Nice job with that alien, by the way.” 

Peridot smiled sheepishly, “Oh, it was nothing. I can catch aliens in my sleep.

“Too bad you don’t get any,” Lapis said, smirking, “really- getting into a fight and then only having, what, an _hour_ of sleep? You’re gonna overwork yourself, Peridot.”

“Pssh,” she said, making a swatting motion with her hand, “Overwork myself? We don’t even have that phrase in my language- I was _made_ to work this hard, Lazuli. I’ll be good.” 

“Whatever you say…” she said, her eyebrows knitting together, “but I’ll be ready to say, ‘I told you so,’ when you collapse from exhaustion.”

* * *

Hours later, Peridot leaned against a wall in the office break room, holding a mug of hot tea and feeling more fatigued than ever. Annoyingly, the dryness in her throat had yet to fade away. 

Collapsing from exhaustion seemed to be more realistic than she’d thought.

“Hey, Peri,” Lapis greeted, smiling as she entered the break room, “I finished the news report on you.”

She cleared her throat and blushed, “It better be nice this time.”

Lapis half-smiled at her, “Oh, I think you’ll like this one…”

“Will I?” she asked, her voice a little hoarse. She took a sip of her tea. It didn’t taste like anything...

Lapis squeezed her shoulder, “Yeah. You didn’t suck last night. Don’t worry.”

Peridot giggled, “I _am_ getting better, aren’t I?”

“Don’t get too full of yourself, but… You are.”

Her face broke into a wide grin. It dropped as the timer went off on her phone.

“Eight thirty,” she sighed, setting down the mug, “I have to go get Miss Diamond’s latte.”

Lapis called after her as she left, “Don’t forget to make it skim!”

* * *

_Cough, cough, cough._

Peridot tried to catch her breath, and winced- dryness had changed to soreness and she was trying her best to not hack up a lung. 

She made it to her desk, setting the nonfat latte down and shuddering. Why was it so _cold_ in this clodding building? 

“Are you sick?”

Peridot blinked, looking up at Lapis- who had suddenly appeared beside her.

Squinting, she coughed into her arm, “Of course not. I don’t _get_ sick.”

Lapis raised an eyebrow, “She says, coughing…”

Peridot glared at her, “This city has bad air.”

“You look awful.”

“I look great,” she huffed. It turned into yet another cough.

Lapis tried to place a comforting hand on her back, but Peridot slipped away from her touch.

“Why are you up here, anyway?”

Lapis shrugged, “I’m waiting for my article to be reviewed. I wanted to check on you, maybe write my next piece on your imminent death: _The Great and Powerful Peridot falls to the common cold…”_

“I don’t have a cold! I’m a superpowered _alien_ , Lazuli. I think my body can handle some dumb Earth virus.”

“The way it handled getting slammed into a machine? Or stopping a plane? You’re not indestructible, Peri.”

No, she wasn’t. Not like _Lapis Lazuli…_

“ _Shoo_ ,” Peridot muttered, her cheeks feeling warm. She was tired of feeling weaker than her.

“Miss Diamond will be here any minute. I’d better go.”

Peridot picked up the latte, heading towards her boss’ private elevator and ignoring the concerned gaze Lapis seemed to be burning into her back.

* * *

By the time the sun had set, Peridot was feeling a different kind of burn.

Someone must’ve turned on the heat. She was overly warm, even with her sleeves rolled up, and her cheeks were flushed. Luckily she’d managed to use her shapeshifting to make her face red rather than bright blue- so no one would ask questions- but that wasn’t the worst of her problems…

_Cough, cough, cough._

Her cough had yet to go away.

Peridot didn’t _get_ sick. In the months she’d been on Earth, she’d been fine. Why would she fall ill now? 

She sighed. Maybe it was just the weather. 

Peridot didn’t have time to think about it, anyway- Miss Diamond had given her plenty to finish before the weekend.

Luckily, the woman had already gone home, so she didn’t have to worry about being berated for coming to work sick. Then again, she probably wouldn't even care. 

Unfortunately, there was still someone there who did.

“Peridot?” 

Lapis’ voice pulled her out of her thoughts. She looked up to see the heroine, whose normally aloof exterior was ruined by the look of concern on her face.

“You okay? You’ve been coughing…”

“I’m fine,” she muttered idly, trying to concentrate on the papers in front of her. Why was she so… _caring_ today?

Suddenly, Lapis’ cool hand was pressed against her forehead. It felt so good against her hot skin, she wanted to sigh in relief.

“You’re burning up…”

Peridot glared at her, but she was too tired to push the girl’s hand off her.

“So? It’s hot in here.”

Lapis raised an eyebrow, “Actually, no, it’s definitely not- you just have a fever. You should rest…”

“I don’t have time to rest,” she mumbled, slumping against her chair, “I have to finish these..”

“Peridot, if you don’t go home...” Lapis began, furrowing her eyebrows, “I’ll tell Ms. Diamond you’re coughing all over her papers.”

“You wouldn’t,” Peridot said, her eyes growing wide.

Smiling devilishly, she replied, “Oh, but I would.”

“Okay, okay!” 

Peridot stood up, and a wave of dizziness hit her. Had Lapis not been there, she probably would’ve fallen over.

“How are you getting there?” Lapis asked worriedly, hooking an arm under Peridot’s shoulder.

Her face burned from the contact, “Uh… walking…”

“No way. You wouldn’t make it five minutes.”

She wiped a bead of sweat off her feverish skin, “I’ll be fine.”

Lapis rolled her eyes, “Just let me take you home, dummy. Amethyst is there, right?”

“Uh… She’s spending the night at Pearl’s.”

Frowning, Lapis offered, “Do you want to come to my place, then? You should have someone looking after you.”

If Peridot wasn’t flushed before, she certainly was bright red now, “Y-you mean, me, go to your house..?”

“Yeah? Is that weird?”

“N-no, just..” she murmured, “Nevermind.. But, really. I’ll be fine.”

“Do you know _anything_ about treating viruses?”

Peridot opened her mouth, then closed it again. She had a point.

“Fine…” 

Smiling victoriously, Lapis led the two along.

* * *

“Just take it!”

_“No!”_

“Stop being stupid!”

Lapis rolled her eyes, huffing at a very stubborn Peridot. She held a dose of cough syrup in a tiny cup, “ _What_ is the problem? It’s medicine.”

Peridot refused to budge, “I don’t do drugs.”

“It’s _medicine_.” 

“So?! Who knows what kind of affect it could have on me?! I’m not human!” 

Peridot winced- her outburst triggered a fit of coughing. She had to take several deep breaths before she finally got it under control.

Lapis sighed, giving her a dull look, “Peridot, just take some before you hack up a lung. Hey- if you die, at least you won’t have to deal with Pearl anymore.”

Suddenly, Peridot broke out into laughter, “Good point... Okay, fine, give it to me.”

She swallowed it, and nearly gagged-

“This tastes like _hell_.”

Lapis smiled, “Oh? I wouldn’t know. I’ve never needed it.”

Peridot frowned, “You’re mean…”

“Lie down.”

Blushing, she leaned back into the pillows on Lapis’ bed. Peridot had changed into sweatpants and a t-shirt- courtesy of her coworker. 

She looked up into those blue eyes with difficulty. Only now, as she finally lay down, did she feel exhaustion pulling her towards sleep.

Lapis placed a hand on her head, “I’m gonna take your temperature…”

She rummaged through the small red crate, decorated only with a white cross and handles, and pulled out some sort of narrow device.

Peridot eyed it suspiciously, “What is _that?”_

“It’s a thermometer. Put it under your tongue.”

Too tired to make another jab at weird Earth tech, Peridot obliged. She looked shyly up at Lapis, who had her brow knit in concern. 

“Seriously,” she began, “What _exactly_ does ‘fine’ mean to you? You look awful.” 

That was probably true, but she didn’t have to say it.

“Do’ be mea’...”

“Close your mouth.” 

Finally, it beeped. Lapis pulled it out and examined the number on the small screen. With a concerned expression, she read, “101.3°F”

“Is that bad?”

“Nothing fatal,” she said, “But you need to be resting...”

Peridot frowned. She couldn’t argue anymore- she was exhausted. All she wanted to do was curl up on her couch and watch _Camp Pining Hearts…_

Sleeping sounded nice too, though.

With a small sigh, Peridot placed her glasses on the bedside table. When she looked up, Lapis was staring at her strangely.

“What?”

Blushing lightly, she furrowed her eyebrows, “Nothing. I’ve never seen you without your glasses. You look weird.”

Peridot blinked at her, “Lapis, are you _blushing_?”

She glared, “Go to sleep already!”

As Peridot closed her eyes, she laughed softly. Lapis leaned in close to whisper something she couldn’t hear, before she heard steps heading out of the room.

Blanket pulled over her, Peridot curled up and laid on her side. She drifted off just seconds later.

* * *

Peridot wasn’t stupid. She’d seen this coming.

There’d been too many years of overuse, too much drain on the Homeworld’s resources… Its destruction had become inevitable.

Still, Peridot could hardly believe her eyes when she stepped outside the ship she’d been tasked to repair, and gazed at the horrific site before her. Her heart stopped.

There was fire everywhere. The ground seemed to shake. In the distance, Peridot heard screams, pleas for help, buildings crumbling...

It was real. Her planet was dying.

She coughed, smoke and flames creeping into her lungs like tendrils and choking her airway. The heat weighed over her suffocatingly.

She felt her eyes burn. From smoke or tears, she didn’t know.

Peridot forced herself to move, and to step back inside the ship. She slammed the door shut. 

Twenty years… She’d lived twenty years, doing menial work for a monarchy that had never cared for her. Long hours of building and repairing the same technology that had now brought an end to her world. 

Peridot wasn’t done yet. This couldn’t be it.

Misery choked her throat. _Breathe_ , she thought, just breathe. She’s always been smart. She could figure this out. 

Repairs on the ship weren’t yet finished; she couldn’t pilot it, but-

_The escape pods were operational._

She wanted to live. She had to live. Screw the monarchy. They never gave a damn about her. 

Peridot refused to go down with them. 

She needed to find somewhere safe. She needed a fresh start. There was only one place she could go that was outside the influence of interplanetary rule.

Stepping into the pod, Peridot set the coordinates for Earth. 

It shot into the sky and shook violently. Peridot watched in horror at the destruction made nauseatingly visible below.

_The monarchy’s brilliant empire_ , she thought bitterly- brought to its knees in a single day. 

Explosions rattled her pod. It swerved, and she slammed into the inside wall. Something sharp cut her face. 

She couldn’t breathe. The pod felt like it had just gotten set on fire...

* * *

_“Peridot… Peridot!”_

She forced her eyes open, blinking and looking around. Everything felt fuzzy…

Lapis asked her if she was feeling alright. Her voice seemed far away. 

“‘m fine…” she murmured. Blurry indigo eyes met hers with concern.

Her mouth tasted like metal. Lapis had put the thermometer in.

A soft beep sounded in Peridot’s ears, and she gazed into worried blue eyes.

“102.8,” Lapis read, with a look of concern, “I’m sorry, I should’ve given these to you already…”

She handed her two small tablets and a cup of water. 

_Water_ , she thought vaguely, _Lazuli’s thing._ She could go for some water. Or some Lazuli.

Groggily, Peridot took a sip and swallowed the two pills.

“Peridot,” she said softly, placing a hand on her forehead, “you should feel better soon, okay?”

Closing her eyes and leaning into the girl’s touch, she exhaled. She was so warm. Lapis felt refreshing cool. 

Peridot heard a soft laugh from the girl, “Are you using me as an ice pack?”

She murmured, “ _Mhm_ …” and wrapped an arm around Lapis.

“Oh, Peridot,” the heroine said sheepishly, “you should lie back down.” 

“Can’t,” she whispered, “too tired…”

She felt herself being gently pushed back against the pillows. Lapis pulled the blanket back over her.

She heard the soft sound of water being squeezed out of a washcloth, and looked up to see Lapis placing it on her forehead. Peridot sighed.

“Better?”

She nodded. Lapis smiled at her, and began to stand up from her seat on the edge of the bed.

Peridot grabbed her hand before she could go, “Wait…”

The heroine’s cheeks coloured, “What?”

“Stay…?”

Lapis smiled warmly and sat back down, squeezing Peridot’s hand. Finally, she closed her eyes again.

* * *

Peridot felt the pod slam into the ground with enough force to leave her winded.

She nearly blacked out. 

Trembling all over, Peridot fumbled for the pod’s controls. A light turned on and nearly blinded her. Squinting, she tried to catch her breath and look outside. 

The screen was badly cracked and dirtied, but she could see…

_Earth_. She’d made it.

Peridot wanted to cry. Her planet was gone, but she was still here...

What had she even been _thinking_? Sure, she was alive, praise Rao and all- but what now? How would she survive? 

Peridot knew very little about Earth. Her planet was advanced enough to have gathered information on it, but it wasn’t like she’d had much time to study some random, primitive world light years away from her.

Still… She was here now. There was only one thing left to do.

Flipping a switch, Peridot watched in awe as the pod opened up to reveal the new world in front of her. Before she could get a good look, someone’s voice startled her.

“ _Hey~_ ”

Peridot shrieked, looking into the wide eyes of an unfamiliar alien. With a gasp, she covered her face with an arm and pleaded in Kryptonian, _“Don’t hurt me!”_

“Okay, that’s not English…”

The language was gibberish to her ears, but- _English_ , Peridot recognized faintly, the alien spoke English…

She’d studied it before, back in the academy…

“Whoa, whoa,” the alien said softly, “calm down… I’m not going to hurt you.”

Peridot didn’t know what they were saying, but their voice was gentle and nonthreatening. She felt herself calming down, and timidly began to lower her arm and meet the alien’s eyes.

A hand was offered to her along with a smile, “I’m Amethyst.”

Peridot noticed the alien’s other hand was pointed towards themself. _Amethyst_ , she thought; her name was Amethyst…?

She took the hand cautiously, and the alien began to pull her up.

“Amethyst…” Peridot repeated.

Amethyst smiled at her. As Peridot lifted a shaky foot out of her pod, she said slowly, “I’m… Peridot…”

The English words rolled of her tongue unfamiliarly, but the alien seemed to understand.

“Peridot?”

She nodded. Peridot lifted her other foot out and onto the ground cautiously, hesitant as she took her first steps on Earth, and stared in awe at the new world around her.

“So this is… _Earth_.”

Beyond the small crater her crash-landing had caused were tall, wide brown stalks littered with brilliant greens.

_Trees_ , she thought. Leaves. They didn’t have any of that on Homeworld...

She set her eyes on the sky, a deep navy blue with clusters of shining stars- a gorgeous sight her polluted city had always lacked. Peridot felt her eyes water.

Amethyst’s voice interrupted her thoughts. 

“You speak English?” she asked, wide-eyed. 

Smiling shyly, for what felt like the first time in forever, Peridot responded, “A little bit… Learn at home.”

Amethyst grinned, “Yo, that’s awesome!”

Peridot didn’t know what ‘awesome’ meant, but from the alien’s expression, it was a good thing. She found herself smiling back.

“Speaking of home... I gotta ask, Peridot… Will there be more like you coming?”

It took her a few moments to understand what the question was. When she finally did, Peridot felt her face fall… 

“No…” she said quietly, “I’m alone.”

Peridot blinked hard as tears stung in her eyes. No, she thought desperately, she would _not_ cry in front of some rando she’d just met. She wasn’t _that_ pathetic.

Amethyst’s hand reached out to hers. She spoke softly, “Come on… We should get out of here. I’ll take you back to my house, get you cleaned up…”

Peridot realized her ears were ringing. She couldn’t make out the rest of what Amethyst was saying. Did she damage her hearing in the fall…?

* * *

_Ring… Ring… Ring…_

Peridot looked around blearily.

Right. She hadn’t silenced her new phone. Truthfully, she had yet to figure out how to. 

Coughing, Peridot grabbed the device off of the bedside table and answered the call. 

It was Pearl. _Ughhh…_

“Hey..?” 

_“Peridot! I’ve been trying to reach you for the past five minutes- are you not wearing your comms?”_

She stifled a cough, “No, yeah, my bad..”

_“‘My bad’?! If there’s an emergency, I need to be able to-”_

Lapis swiped the phone from Peridot’s weak grasp. She blinked- she hadn’t even noticed her enter the room.

“Hey! It’s _Pearl!”_ she protested.

Lapis ignored Peridot, sitting down and holding the phone up to her ear, “Hey… Long time. What’s going on?”

“Lazu-..!” Her outburst led into a fit of coughing. 

Lapis gave her a sympathetic smile.

“No, she’s sick in bed with a fever.. Flu, probably… It’s going around, you know.”

Once she recovered, Peridot tried to reach for her phone. Lapis stood up swiftly, out of her reach. Rude...

“Yeah, I was surprised too..” 

Leaning down, Lapis placed a hand on Peridot’s forehead and knit her brow. She was too tired to duck away.

“Still pretty bad, but I’ve got her.”

She scowled, “Lazuli! Let me talk-!”

Lapis put a finger up to silence her, smiling slyly, “Oh, I can substitute…”

Peridot stared in confusion. _Substitute..?_

“Peridot,” she said, lowering the phone for a moment, “go back to sleep. Everything’s handled, okay?”

“But-”

“Please,” she said softly. Damn. Peridot couldn’t say no to her...

Begrudgingly, she laid back down and closed her eyes. 

She heard Lapis’ footsteps out of the room, and quiet murmurs on the phone. Soon, though, she was out like a light.

* * *

Peridot sat on Amethyst’s couch, staring blankly at nothing. Her _apartment_ , as she called it, was a much more cozy living quarters than she’d ever been used to.

She waited. Amethyst had gone to get something that Peridot didn’t understand.

“Hey.”

She squinted at the alien, who was holding what looked like first aid supplies. 

“Me?”

Amethyst nodded, and Peridot gave her a look of confusion. 

“You’re bleeding,” she pointed at her face.

Peridot touched the right side gingerly, and winced. Her gloved hand came back bloody. 

She’d gotten a small gash from being knocked around in the pod. Something to prove that everything today had really happened…

“Can I clean it for you?”

Peridot eyed her, “Can _I_.” 

Amethyst laughed at her response, “Well, okay…”

“Poison?” she asked, staring at the brown bottle she’d been handed.

“No, not poison. It’s a disinfectant. For cleaning things.”

_Cleaning…_

Peridot looked from Amethyst to the bottle distrustfully, but finally sighed and poured some on a pad of gauze she’d been given. When she pressed it against the wound, she winced and cursed in Kryptonian.

It probably wasn’t poison. Peridot had felt similarly when treating the occasional cut or scrape she’d get at work.

She eyed the gauze, and found it soaked in blood- but the wound itself had finally stopped bleeding. It felt deep. She wondered if it would scar.

“Do you need anything else?”

As Peridot thought about the question, she realized how much soot was on her. And blood. 

Slowly she asked, “Clean?”

“Oh, do you wanna shower?”

Amethyst led her into a small room and showed her a few bottles that lined the edge of what looked like a bathtub. Peridot had only ever been able to use the small showers her rank was given. She wondered if Amethyst was rich.

Soon, the alien left her alone with a clean set of apparel. Peridot felt herself relax, finally, as she got clean and dressed in the large shirt she’d been given. 

Once she’d gotten out, she sat back on the couch. Amethyst gave her a blanket, and she wrapped it around herself. Peridot only then realized how tired she was. She stifled a yawn with her hand.

The alien’s words swirled in her head, but she managed to make out something she recognized-

“Sleep?”

Peridot nodded. 

“Come on, you can use my bed,” Amethyst said, showing her to a seperate room, “I’ll be on the couch in you need me, okay?”

Peridot gazed at her tiredly. Sure, sure…

Amethyst gave her a grin and a thumbs up before leaving the room. Peridot sat on the edge of the bed and was dismayed to find her eyes watering now that she was alone.

Alone… She’d be alone forever, now. 

The reality seemed to be finally hitting her; her vision turned blurry. She couldn’t sleep.

Peridot began to shake. Before she knew it, she was sobbing.

Her planet was gone. Her world was gone. 

Homeworld was dead.

* * *

“Peridot…?”

She gasped, her eyes fluttering open. Peridot looked around panicked, disoriented…

“Hey, calm down, it’s me…”

Lapis’ hand was squeezing hers.

“Lazuli…” she said breathlessly, her eyes filling with tears. She realized she was shaking.

Not _now…_

“W-what happened…?” Peridot stammered, “where’d you go..?”

“Caught an alien,” Lapis said casually, “Pearl’s orders.”

Peridot’s eyes widened, “But you hate the DEO…”

She shrugged, “I didn’t do it for them. I did it for you.”

Peridot whispered a quiet thanks. Her coworker eyed her worriedly. 

“Are you okay?” Lapis asked, “What were you dreaming about?”

“I’m fine,” she lied, “um, I don’t remember…”

“Come on, it’s obviously something.”

Peridot bit her lip just as Lapis’ expression softened into one of solemn understanding. Her brow creased slightly.

“You’ve been having nightmares…”

She averted her eyes, “It’s not a big deal.”

“Not if you’re waking up in a cold sweat over it. What happened, Peridot?”

It was a simple question, but something about hearing Lapis’ unusually soft voice, dripping with concern, made Peridot feel as though all of her defenses had finally been stripped away. 

_What happened?_

Her whole planet had died. How could she ever expect to repress that?

She’d told Amethyst before, sure, but only faint details. Enough to answer her questions without feeling too vulnerable… Amethyst wouldn’t understand, anyway. 

She hadn’t _really_ talked about it for months. She hadn’t wanted to talk about it. But, staring into Lapis’ worried blue eyes, blue eyes that had also seen destruction and pain and _hopelessness…_

She looked at Lapis Lazuli, and realized that for the first time she had someone who understood what it felt like to lose your entire world. She had someone who understood _her._

Peridot finally had someone to tell- and tell she did. By the time she finished, she was shaking. The blue eyes of her fellow refugee seemed misty.

“Oh, Peridot…”

“It’s fine.”

Peridot felt Lapis’ gaze on her. The woman squeezed her hand, “I know how you feel…”

Taking a deep breath, she asked, “Where are you from?”

Lapis looked at the wall as her blue eyes turned stormy, and exhaled softly, “Tamaran.”

Oh. _Oh._

“I’m sorry.”

Lapis smiled at her and shrugged, “It’s okay. Hey, at least I met you.”

Peridot covered her face as she felt her cheeks heat up, “ _Great Rao_ … Do you really mean that…?”

“Sure. You’re pretty cool when you’re not lighting cars on fire.”

“ _One_ time!”

Lapis laughed at her and placed her hand on Peridot’s forehead, “Take it easy. You’ve still got a fever.”

Pouting, she furrowed her eyebrows, “You’re mean…”

“It’s still early. Go back to sleep.”

Peridot pulled the blanket up to her chin shyly and frowned. Yet again, she closed her eyes.

It was eight months ago.

* * *

Peridot wept until the sun came up. 

She kept herself silent so that she wouldn’t bother Amethyst. Despite her exhaustion, Peridot thought she would never sleep again.

Falling back against the pillows, she closed her tired eyes and took a deep breath. Memories of all the destruction she’d seen today swirled in her mind. Fire- there'd been so much fire…

She thought of her pod, still stuck in a crater on the outskirts of this new town.

Peridot wondered how she could trust Amethyst so easily. Really, the alien could be plotting to capture her right at this moment, but… she couldn’t bring herself to care. 

She’d just lost everything. Now, the only way left to go was up.

Squeezing her eyes shut, she drifted off with dreams full of oceans and forests covered in bright green leaves.

* * *

Peridot woke up to wide blue eyes. _Light_ blue eyes. Sunlight peeked through the blinds of Lapis’ window. It must’ve been morning already.

Pearl, a few inches from Peridot’s face and armed with a face mask and latex gloves, was looking at her in complete fascination. It was unnerving, to say the least.

“An alien afflicted with influenza… I would’ve never predicted that!” 

Peridot squinted at her and glared. Pulling the blanket over her face, she groaned, “Go away.”

“Oh, don’t be _rude_. I came here personally just to check on you, _Agent_ Dean.”

She lowered the blanket begrudgingly as Lapis scoffed a few feet away, “You said you had to come to make sure I wasn’t lying about her.”

A blush coloured the agent’s cheeks.

“Well, all the same...” Pearl began, “You’ve done fine taking care of her. She should be fine in a few days. Though, I suppose this means she’ll have to be vaccinated…”

Peridot heard Lapis laugh incredulously, “Oh, stars, you’re not serious?”

“Wait…” Peridot said slowly, “Vaccines? Like for the flu? But I already _have_ it…”

Pearl smiled at her in a way that made her nervous. 

“Oh, Dean, there are _much_ more vaccines than just for that. Since you work for us, you’ll have to get them all eventually… We can’t have you be the next patient zero, after all!”

Lapis was beginning to look a little nervous, “It’s just a few that are required, right?”

Pearl shook her head and paused to think, “Fourteen, I believe.”

Peridot met Lapis’ eyes, and she could tell that they were thinking the same thing.

_Fuck._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> poor peri... but hey, vaccines are important! 
> 
> this was a monster of an update, but i'm v satisfied with the result... peridot's backstory + lapidot h/c sickfic all in one ! hell yea
> 
> as always, thank you for reading and be sure to comment! next chapter will be posted on 2/19 ;)


	9. Numb

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A simple mission ends in disaster.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is late whoops. but hey, happy birthday to a certain someone & ty for ur help in this ch!!! you know who you are uwu
> 
> chapter title is from "numb" by marina & the diamonds ;)

Even the soreness in Peridot’s arms couldn’t ruin her good mood.

Grinning harder than ever, she followed Lapis up the stairwell. Her coworker had wanted to show her something. 

Peridot didn’t know what to expect, but she was always excited to spend more time with her. After the whole flu thing a few weeks ago, Lapis seemed to be much more friendly and comfortable around her. It was a huge change from her previous aloof demeanor. 

As the blue-haired reporter swung open the door, Peridot’s mouth gaped open.

“Look,” she said, walking forward and twirling around, “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”

Lapis’ hair blew in the wind, tinted gold from the light of sunset. Her smiling face seemed to be glowing. 

Beautiful was right. 

Forcing herself to look beyond, Peridot’s eyes widened to take in the mix of pale pink, yellow, and blue that was currently painting the sky and reflecting in the windows of the buildings below. 

Sunset… Lapis had brought her to the roof to show her the sunset. She felt giddy.

Peridot couldn’t remember if she’d ever seen something so beautiful on Homeworld. She barely even went outside.

Her twenty years were spent working around machines. She’d never really felt alive until she got to Earth.

Ironically enough, her planet’s death was probably the best thing that had ever happened to her. Peridot wasn’t just alive anymore. She was actually _living._

“You okay?” Lapis asked. Peridot realized she’d been silent for a while.

“I’m good,” she assured, “Really good.”

Lapis smiled as she walked towards her. Peridot felt the heroine reach out a hand to hold hers.

“Well,” she said softly, “your shift’s over… Wanna stay out here a little longer?” 

“Okay.”

Lapis leaned in closer. Peridot could feel her breath on her skin. She smelled of lavender and sea salt. 

They were only inches apart now.

Her phone rang.

“Gah!” Peridot gasped, flinching at the sudden noise. She accidentally bumped into Lapis’ nose. 

The heroine squinted at her, “Ow?”

Peridot blushed and scrambled to pull her phone out of her pocket. Amethyst was calling. Of course...

“What?!”

_“Hey, don’t be rude. I’m on the way to an armed robbery- wanna come?”_

Peridot scoffed, “Where is it?”

* * *

Peridot wasn’t entirely surprised when Lapis scooped her up and flew her onto the scene to join her and Amethyst. She also wasn’t surprised when they won the fight with ease. 

Soon, Amethyst and her partner were loading the criminals into the back of their police cruisers. 

“We did it!” Peridot exclaimed, offering Lapis a high-five.

Lapis smiled, “I guess we did.”

Her heart soared. _We._ They were a we.

She didn’t have much time to relish in the thought, however, once a sound like fireworks suddenly rang in her ears and pressure slammed into her leg.

Lapis’ smile fell.

Her expression turned blank, then transformed into one of horror as Peridot dropped to the ground with a hard thud.

Laying on the concrete and gazing into the rose-coloured twilight above her, she wondered why she couldn’t move. Why had she fallen?

Weird… her left leg felt wet. Peridot reached out to touch her thigh, and lifted the green-gloved hand above herself.

It was stained with blood.

“ _Great Rao_ …” Peridot murmured as her senses came back to her, and pain like never before flooded into her leg and forced her to scream.

Getting shot… that made Peridot surprised.

* * *

_“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!”_

Peridot’s own scream of agony ripped through her ears. Lapis was gripping her outstretched, bloody hand, and staring down at her with fear-filled watery eyes.

_Pain_ … Pain was all she could think about.

“No exit wound… _How_ is there no exit wound?!” 

“ _Lapis_ …” Peridot moaned desperately. Her eyes met the hero’s blue ones.

“I’m here,” she murmured as she gripped the girl’s hand, “you’re gonna be fine, okay?!”

Vaguely, Peridot heard Amethyst’s voice beside her, “...Ambulance here, now…”

“No,” she panted, gripping her roommate’s hand, “Pearl… _Call Pearl_ …”

Amethyst met her eyes with concern as she lowered her phone, “Peridot, you’re not making any sense…”

“I trust Pearl,” she stammered breathlessly.

Lapis pulled the comms off of Peridot, squeezing her hand, “I understand.”

“Pearl,” she spoke into the mic, “it’s _Peridot_ …”

She breathed shallowly, looking into Amethyst’s wide, disbelieving eyes. _I’m sorry_ , she thought, as inhaling became more and more difficult, _I’m sorry you had to find out this way_ …

“Peridot?!” 

“What?” Amethyst asked frantically,”What’s wrong?”

The world turned black around her. The last thing she heard was Lapis’ choked voice:

“She can’t breathe!”

* * *

Panting and gasping, Peridot came to with wide eyes. She’d never realized how great being able to breathe was until now.

“What was _that_?” 

Lapis sounded completely horrified. Peridot looked above weakly, and saw the concerned faces of Amethyst and Lapis gazing down at her. Bright lights burned her eyes, but she felt the breeze from outside. It should’ve been dark.

Slowly, her vision began to focus. She was in the back of an ambulance. _Oh._

Pearl was nearby, disposing of a syringe. Her gaze shifted to the other two, grim as ever.

“Anaphylactic shock. Her throat was closing up.”

“But that happens with allergic reactions! What would-?”

Silence fell over the room, and Peridot felt her breathing become laboured once more. She groaned and squeezed hard on whatever was still wrapped around her palm.

“The bullet…” 

Peridot squeezed her eyes shut. She couldn’t tell who was talking anymore. Her throat felt tight again.

“We have to take it out… Lapis-”

“Are you _insane_? With that, you risk infection, bleeding out-!”

“She’s reacting to the lead. Anaphylaxis will kill her before an infection does. We just have to hope her body will regenerate fast enough... “

No way… she thought desperately- they weren’t really going to…?

“Lapis… There might be fragments… You’ll be able to tell, right?”

Please, no, Peridot wanted to beg, _no way _...__

“You’re not seriously asking me to-”

“Please. Your powers are her only chance.”

“Okay,” she said quietly, “I’ll do it.”

“I’m so sorry,” was the last thing Peridot heard Lapis whisper, before all other sounds were soon drowned out by her own screams of agony. Her world was white, hot pain… and then she could breathe again.

Peridot took one last look up at the grey ceiling of the ambulance before she slipped into unconsciousness.

* * *

_“Uuuugh…”_

A laugh sounded beside her, soft and melodic enough to make Peridot forget her aching body. Her eyes fluttered open. The first thing she saw was blue strands of hair spilling down in front of her, then Lapis’ smile.

Turning her head, she met her eyes and grinned weakly, “Hey..”

“Hey.”

She was laying down in an infirmary cot. Her left thigh was wrapped in gauze, stiff but strangely painless. A heart monitor beeped evenly from nearby. She felt an IV drip next to her.

With Lapis at her bedside again, the situation felt all too familiar.

“Are you feeling okay?”

She felt fine, but weak- and not just physically.

“I can’t believe I let myself get shot.”

Lapis raised an eyebrow and smiled at her like, _Really?_

She laughed lightly, “It’s not like you planned it.”

Peridot furrowed her brow and stared at the floor. Why couldn’t she be as strong as Lapis?

The heroine in question sat down at the edge of her bed, and brushed a strand of hair out of Peridot’s eyes.

“Hey, don’t look so glum… You’re alive, that’s what matters.”

She hardly registered Lapis’ words. The girl had sat down… so why didn’t Peridot feel where the mattress had sunk underneath her weight?

Soon, she realized that she didn’t feel _anything_ in her left leg. 

“Peridot?” 

She met worried blue eyes and took a shaky breath.

“I can’t feel my leg.”

* * *

“ _Nothing?_ ” Pearl asked.

The agent pricked her left toe with a small needle. Peridot blinked hard and shook her head.

Every part of her left leg, below the wound on her thigh, seemed to be completely paralyzed. She couldn’t even wiggle her toes.

“Nothing.”

Pearl’s light eyes met hers solemnly, “There must’ve been nerve damage.”

Despite herself, Peridot felt her eyes begin to water. She forced her voice steady, “From before or _after_ you made her rip the bullet out?” 

“We can’t know for sure,” Pearl said gently.

“ _We can’t know?!_ Are you joking me?! I might be permanently paralyzed and you can’t even give me a real _answer?”_

The agent frowned at her, silent. Everything felt unreal.

Peridot stared at her useless leg, feeling numb in more ways than one.

_Why?_

She had finally felt like she got her footing in life- being a superhero, working with the DEO, finding a job… and now it was all ruined.

How would she get to work? She couldn’t walk. She couldn’t run around on errands for her boss anymore. She may never run again.

She could never stand her ground in a fight.

One bullet, one second, and her entire life had been ripped from her.

Pearl’s voice pulled Peridot out of her thoughts, “With your healing, you may still recover…-”

_“You don’t know that!”_

She felt herself yelling, angry tears threatening to spill out. 

“Agent Dean, please… calm down. Let me run a few tests, and we’ll see what we’re dealing with-”

_”Get out!”_ she shouted, sitting up to toss a pillow at Pearl, “Quit acting like you care about me!”

Pearl opened her mouth to respond, but closed it again once Garnet appeared in the doorway of the infirmary.

“Adelman,” the woman said softly, “I need you upstairs.”

“O-of course…” Pearl replied. She looked relieved at the chance to leave.

Peridot watched as Garnet turned to meet her eyes. She stared into the agent’s dark shades, panting and glaring with a face, no doubt, flushed in anger.

The tall woman kept her gaze for a few moments, before turning around and saying a quiet, “Rest well.”

Once Pearl and Garnet’s steps faded into silence, Peridot set her eyes on Lapis’ frowning face.

She felt her blood begin to boil. What on Earth did _Lapis Lazuli_ have to be upset about?

She was perfect, with her steel skin and immeasurable power. _Lapis_ would never get shot. She couldn’t get shot.

The girl was stronger and more skilled than Peridot would ever be. 

Now, that wasn't saying much. 

Any hope of catching up to her had been crushed- destroyed along with her nerves by an unexpected bullet.

Peridot felt like she had lost everything. All Lapis lost was her competition. 

“Why are you so sad?” Peridot demanded, “Now you’re the city’s only hero again.”

“Do you really think I care about that?”

She huffed, her eyes misty, “It’s true, isn’t it?”

Lapis reached out a hand to comfort her, and Peridot swatted it away. The blue-eyes heroine stared at her in disbelief. 

“Just go…”

“Peridot-”

_“Go!”_

She rammed her hand against the bed, and the railing bent with a loud creak. Something metal clattered to the floor. 

Finally, Lapis gave her one last misty glance and stepped out of the room.

Peridot stared down at her useless left leg and slammed a fist onto it as hard as she could, tears streaming down her face.

She sobbed. She felt nothing. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> to be continued...
> 
> (i'm not sorry mwahaha... next update is 3/5!) feel free to react below (;


	10. One Foot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peridot deals with the aftermath of the last fight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks to everyone who commented last chapter! i hope i caused you all sufficient emotional pain (;
> 
> "one foot" is a song by FUN- p rad and very fitting hohoho

Peridot eyed the metal tray of food that Pearl held with tired eyes. 

She’d spiked a fever last night- undoubtedly due to her on-the-field bullet extraction- and was put on antibiotics, which made her feel like puking.

Fun stuff.

Pearl set down the tray in front of Peridot, and the incapacitated hero threw it back at her via metal powers.

“ _Agent Dean!”_ she scolded, her face reddening. 

“I’m not hungry,” Peridot said plainly.

Before Pearl could shout any further, Garnet stuck her head into the room, “Adelman. You’re needed upstairs.”

She and Peridot had a silent glaring contest, until Pearl finally sighed and stepped away. The sound of her leather boots echoed in the hallway before fading away. The tray and spilled food was left on the ground.

Peridot lay against the infirmary cot and wearily stared at the empty doorway. 

She took a sip of water and thought of Lapis…

By now, the girl was probably fighting some alien in her place. 

Peridot still couldn’t feel any of her leg aside from the wound itself. Even with painkillers, the discomfort was only increasing.

She wished so badly that she could be out on the field with Lapis. The heroine hadn’t been with her since yesterday evening, when Peridot shouted at her to leave.

Maybe she would never come back.

Peridot squeezed her eyes shut. No use ruminating over it now.

With nothing else to do, she drifted off into fitful sleep.

* * *

“Peridot.”

Her eyes fluttered open. Lapis was sitting at the edge of her bed with a grim expression.

“Go away.”

“No,” Lapis said, shoving a tray of food inches from her face, “Eat.”

Peridot crossed her arms.

“Come on, don’t act like a child…”

She stared at Lapis in disbelief, “A child? Are you joking me?! How would you feel if _you_ got shot- oh, wait, that can’t happen to _perfect Lazuli!”_

“Oh, enough of this…”

“No, I’m not done! How could you possibly understand?! You’ve never been hurt like this! You don’t know what it’s like to have everything in your life suddenly taken from you!” 

Peridot breathed heavily, glaring at Lapis. Her blue eyes were wide- hurt. 

“I…” she laughed, “ _I_ don’t know what it’s like to have everything taken away from me? I don’t know what it’s like to be hurt? Really, all this time together… and you still know nothing about me.”

“Lazuli-”

“No, save it,” she said, sliding off the bed and onto her feet, “I get why you would believe that. But, Peridot… I’m not as invincible as you think.”

With that, she made her way to the exit. Peridot felt guilt begin to stir in her heart. 

She called after Lapis, “Wait- I…”

The girl turned around expectantly.

“I didn’t mean…” Peridot squeezed her eyes shut with a slight groan, “I…”

Hurt melted off Lapis’ face and was replaced by concern, “Peridot?”

Holding back a scream, she gasped as white hot pain seared through her leg. Lapis rushed to her side, panicked, but Peridot couldn’t speak. All she could do was scream in agony.

* * *

_“What happened?!”_

_“Just started… I don’t know…”_

Peridot felt her toes curling. She squeezed whatever was gripping her hand. 

Someone murmured encouraging words. She felt like puking.

“Peridot? Can you feel that?”

Something sharp stabbed into her and she shouted. Her leg was on _fire._

“This is a good thing!” Pearl exclaimed, _“Your nerves are regenerating!”_

* * *

Three days.

It took three days for the nerves in Peridot’s left leg to heal. All she remembered was the faint feeling of someone holding her hand, along with Lapis’ misty eyes staring down at her.

When Peridot woke up for the final time, she wasn’t in pain anymore. Lapis was gone. 

She was currently stuck with Pearl, who kept poking her leg. Peridot wanted to kick her. 

“Can you feel that?”

 _“Yes!”_ she snapped, raising her leg.

It was weak and shaky. Peridot groaned as it dropped uselessly back onto the bed.

“Oh, that was good!” Pearl said, smiling, “Do you think you’re ready to-”

“GET OUT!” she shouted, throwing a pillow in the agent’s face. 

Pearl blinked as it fell onto the floor, then crossed her arms, “If you keep lying in bed like this, the muscle will atrophy. Good luck walking then!”

Peridot lowered her gaze as the agent stepped out of the room. Stupid Pearl. 

“She’s not wrong.”

Stiffening, Peridot looked up to see Lapis Lazuli step into the room.

She crossed her arms, “What does ‘atrophy’ even mean?’

“It’ll waste away. Deteriorate. Your leg will be too weak to support you.”

“I already can’t walk.”

Lapis sighed and walked over, sitting down at the edge of her bed. This time, Peridot felt the weight shift.

“You have to try, Peridot…”

She closed her eyes, sighing.

Peridot didn’t _want_ to try. Of course she wanted to walk again, but…

What if she couldn’t? Even after healing, it still felt off. Weak. Shaky. Maybe she’d never walk again...

She worried she’d just fall on her face if she tried.

“Come on,” Lapis urged her, “Pearl may be annoying, but she _did_ go to medical school. She’s your best shot at recovery. You just have to try.” 

“I _just_ have to try? Yeah, ‘cause it’s so easy to learn to walk again.” 

“Peri-”

She rolled over onto her side and away from Lapis. 

“I’m just tired, okay? I’m gonna go to sleep.”

* * *

Peridot couldn’t sleep.

 _Just try_ … Lapis had urged her. _You have to try._

She sat up and turned so that her legs dangled over the edge of the bed. With a deep breath, she slid off the side and onto her feet.

All of her weight was on her right leg. Peridot took a step forward with the functioning limb.

Releasing her grip on the bed for support, she moved her left leg forward.

It gave out. Peridot collapsed onto the floor.

Her newly-healed wound protested the movement, and she choked out a sob. Steps echoed through the hallway. 

She prayed that no one heard the fall. 

“Peridot?”

To her dismay, it was Lapis’ voice.

Peridot kept her face hidden and eyes glued onto the floor. Lapis tapped her on the shoulder, “Are you okay...?”

“Do I look okay?” she asked quietly.

“Huh-?”

Lapis tried to help her up, and Peridot pushed her hands away, “Go away!”

“I’m just trying to _help_.”

“I don’t need your help!” 

Lapis stared at her in disbelief. Peridot’s eyes filled with angry tears and she lifted up her head to glare at her. 

“Don’t look at me like this!”

The girl frowned, “Peridot, I don’t care-”

“Just go!” she yelled, “ _Please_ …”

Lapis wrapped her arms around Peridot even as she thrashed and protested. 

“Really,” Lapis murmured, helping her onto the bed, “You think I’d leave you to die on the floor, alone?”

Peridot frowned at her with watery eyes and sniffed.

“That would be preferable.”

Lapis smiled sadly, “Hey- I pulled that bullet out to save you. You’re not allowed to die now.”

Peridot sighed and wiped her eyes, “...I know.”

“And, eventually…” Lapis added, “you’ll have to try again. But we’ll be there for you when you do. I know you can make it.”

Peridot didn’t respond. She closed her eyes and listened as Lapis walked silently out of the room.

Miraculously, she managed to drift off.

* * *

Agent Dean.”

“Hmm?” Peridot asked distantly, playing a game on her phone.

“Your wound is healed now,” Pearl said sternly, “You’re cleared for physical therapy. There’s no excuse to keep lying in bed.”

“I’m busy,” she muttered.

“Doing what?!” Pearl snapped, taking her phone away, “Wasting away?"

Peridot glared at her, “Give it back.”

“Not until you come with me. We need to get you back on your feet as soon as possible if you want any chance at walking.”

“I already tried, remember?” she shot back, “And fell on the floor. I’m not useful to you anymore, so just go away.”

“I’m not going to go _away_ , Peridot. You can’t give up after one try! It’ll take _time_. You just have to work at it.”

“Don’t want to.”

“So you don’t want to walk again?”

Peridot felt her stomach sink as she shifted her gaze to the wall. Her anger began to fade. 

“You just want to lie here until your leg atrophies, or you throw a clot to your lung- _right?_ Wasting away in bed is what you want?”

“You don’t understand-”

“I understand perfectly well, Peridot,” Pearl said firmly, “I understand that you’re scared and _angry_ that this happened to you. I understand that you’re afraid of failing again. But you can’t give up so easily.”

Pearl took a deep breath and crouched down to Peridot’s level, “I know what it’s like to feel like you’ve lost everything. When I lost Rose… it felt like my life was over. But it wasn’t. And yours isn’t either.”

“Peridot,” she continued, “you have people who care about you. Garnet, Amethyst, me... and _Lapis_ \- I never thought she could _tolerate_ someone, let alone care as much as she does for you! She didn’t save you so you could lie here uselessly and yell at her. Show her you were worth it.”

Guilt began to weigh in Peridot’s chest. Pearl was right…

“Besides,” she continued, straightening up, “You are an _agent_ of this organization. You are to _follow_ the orders of your superiors, and that includes complying with the treatment provided for you!”

Peridot gazed at her as her lip began to tremble. Slowly, she swung her legs over the side of the bed. Pearl’s expression softened and she hurried to bring over a wheelchair. 

With a shaky breath, Peridot placed her two feet on the cold tile floor. Pearl gave her an encouraging smile and reached out to offer support. 

Together, they walked a few feet to the wheelchair. Peridot felt tears sting in her eyes. It felt good to move again.

She lowered herself down into the wheelchair. Pearl looked at her for confirmation and Peridot answered with a small nod. With that, they made their way to the training room.

* * *

Peridot gripped the safety rails on either side of her. She took slow, cautious steps along the walkway towards the smiling faces of Lapis and Amethyst.

It was slow and wobbly. She still couldn’t bend her knee all the way, so she had an obvious limp...

But it was _walking._

She felt a wide grin spread across her face as she met her friends with a high-five. For the first time in two weeks, she felt hopeful.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading!! sorry for the delay, super busy with school rn rip
> 
> next chapter will (hopefully) be out on 3/19 ! all i can say is: prepare yourself >:)
> 
> be sure to leave a comment n tell me what you think ! :D


	11. Killing Machine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The DEO receives an alien transmission.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whewww sorry this is so late, but here it is!! btw - the song "killing machine" was in an episode of supergirl, verryyy intense scene (;

“Can you explain this to me?!”

Lapis sniggered at the screen of Peridot’s phone. It displayed the title of an article:

_“National City’s Own Peridot Presumed Dead After Gunshot”_

_by: Lola López_

“Why are you telling everybody I’m dead?!”

Peridot’s face was flushed a bright blue, which only seemed to make Lapis laugh harder. 

“Oh, relax,” she said, “This way, no one will feel abandoned by you! Besides, what was I supposed to say? ‘No worries everyone, she’s just recovering in a secret government facility… She’ll be back by Tuesday.’”

Peridot huffed. She _did_ have a point. 

“Well, fine... But you better be the first one to report when I make my comeback.”

Lapis’ blue eyes sparkled, “You decided?”

Peridot smiled sheepishly and nodded, “Yeah…” she gestured towards her silver cane, “I have a new weapon now, anyway!”

Lapis laughed and rolled her eyes, “That’s supposed to help you walk, you know.”

_“CALLIOPE!”_

With a flinch, Peridot jumped out of her seat. 

“Duty calls,” she said with a smirk, and took a step forward. Her face tightened.

Lapis’ face filled with worry, but Peridot brushed it off with a quick, “I’m fine.”

She felt her Lapis’ eyes on her as she began to limp away. The cane was left resting against a desk.  
  


* * *

  
  
Finished with Miss Diamond’s errands, Peridot stepped inside her shared apartment.

“I don’t see why you couldn’t have just told me. We’ve been dating for over a _year_ …” 

Peridot shut the door meekly behind her, frowning at Amethyst. Her roommate was sitting on the couch, holding her phone up to her ear with a tense expression replacing her usual relaxed one. 

It wasn’t hard to guess who she was talking to.

“Hey…” Peridot said awkwardly.

Amethyst gave her a small wave, sliding off the couch to walk into her room. She shut the door behind her.

Peridot sighed. She hadn’t paid enough attention while recovering at the DEO, but since returning home, she quickly noticed the newfound distance between Pearl and Amethyst.

She was beginning to wonder if her roommate was mad at _her_ , too.

After all, they both had lied to Amethyst.

With a small wince, Peridot sunk into the couch. There wasn’t really anything she could do about it now. She pulled out her phone just as it buzzed with a text.

_your wcw: hey. wanna go for a walk?_

It was Lapis. She’d put her number into the girl’s phone after grabbing it to sub in on that mission. Peridot hadn’t realized until a few days ago because of the name Lapis made for herself: _your wcw._ What did that even mean?

Peridot answered the text: _your not funny_

_your wcw: you’re*_  
_your wcw: look outside ur window_

Peridot shifted her gaze upwards, yelping and dropping her phone at the eyes that were suddenly staring into hers. Lapis was hovering behind the glass, smiling in her usual sly way.

Huffing, Peridot grabbed her cane and placed it onto the ground to help her stand up. She set it down and made her way to the window.

Lapis gave her a soft, “Hey,” as Peridot opened it up for her.

“You know I have a door, right?”

She shrugged, “Flying is cooler.”

Before Peridot could roll her eyes, Lapis stuck a hand out and asked, “Wanna hang out?” 

She grinned and nodded. Lapis pulled the smaller girl into her arms and took off into the sky.  
  


* * *

  
  
Peridot watched curiously as Lapis tossed a rock across the lake. It skipped across the surface of the water three times before it sunk to bottom.

“What are you doing?”

Lapis smiled at her, “It’s supposed to be fun. Loosen up a little.”

She handed Peridot a small rock and gestured for her to try. 

After a weak toss, it dropped into the water with a soft _plunk!_

Lapis giggled. Peridot’s ears felt hot, but she smiled anyway. The girl’s laugh was like music. 

“Here, try again…”

Peridot tossed another rock and watched it skip off the water. As the surface rippled, the sky’s reflection in it was distorted, and it was then that Peridot realized the sun was already beginning to set.

She smiled. For the second time, they were watching the sunset together. 

Her coworker wasn’t smiling though. Peridot turned to see her staring into the lake with stormy eyes. 

She began to feel uneasy.

‘Something wrong?”

Lapis shook her head, “No. Just thinking.”

“About what?”

Peridot winced and held a hand over her ear before Lapis could answer. 

With some difficulty, she heard Lapis ask, _You okay?_ over the sudden buzz in her ears. Peridot furrowed her eyebrows. She remembered feeling like this before. Months ago, when Serpentine transmitted a frequency to her...

_Oh._

Her ears weren’t ringing. She was hearing… _something._

“I have to get to the DEO,” she said suddenly.

Lapis blinked. To Peridot’s surprise, she offered a hand.

“I’ll fly you.”  
  


* * *

  
  
Peridot hurried over to Pearl as Lapis followed hesitantly behind her.

The agent was wearing a pair of headphones and a grim expression. She pulled them off of her head and began to speak, “There’s a-”

“Transmission. I know.” 

Garnet walked up behind her, “Our satellite picked up a ship just outside the Earth’s orbit. Someone’s trying to communicate.”

Peridot felt her heart begin to pound. There was a _ship?_ A whole ship? How many aliens could be squeezed into that?

“Well-” she stammered, “What are they saying?”

Pearl stared at her, “We don’t know. It’s not in English.”

Peridot looked timidly at Lapis, “Maybe you could try listening?”

“Why would I know?”

“You’re Tamaranean, right? Maybe you’ll recognize it, since you can learn languages through lip-”

Blushing, Lapis quickly silenced Peridot and pulled the headphones on.

Within seconds, her face went slack.

“Lapis…?” 

Silently, she set the headphones down. Horror filled her widened eyes. Horror that Peridot would have never expected to see on the hero’s face. 

“What does it say…?”

“‘Surrender Lapis Lazuli…” her voice was shaking, “Surrender Lapis Lazuli, or face death.”

Peridot met Pearl’s eyes with disbelief, but before either of them could speak, Lapis rushed out through the exit.  
  


* * *

  
  
“Lapis!” 

Peridot limped down the alleyway as quickly as she could to catch up with the heroine. She grabbed her hand.

“Lapis, wait!” 

“Let go of me!” Lapis snapped, turning to glare at her.

The girl’s anger finally began to dissipate upon seeing Peridot’s expression.

Lapis took a deep breath, “Peridot, I… I didn’t escape Tamaran when it was invaded. I escaped later… from the Psions. I was their prisoner.” 

Peridot felt her eyes grow wide. _No way…_

“The alien who sent the transmission… Her name is Jasper. She was one of their guards. She’s come to get me.”

Lapis’ blue eyes were stormy, as if clouds had covered up their usual vibrance. She bit her lip, “Earth isn’t safe anymore, Peridot.”

“B-but,” she stammered, “Sure it is! The DEO can protect you!” 

“Protect me?” Lapis asked, dubiously, “Pearl, Rose- they were the ones who locked me up when I _got_ to Earth! Besides, do you really think the DEO’s going to protect _me_ over humans?!”

Lapis shook her head, “I can’t trust them. I just can’t. I’ve made that mistake too many times before... My parents, the DEO, and _you_ … You turned against me after one bullet!”

To her dismay, Lapis’ water wings began to fold out from under her suit. 

“Please…” Peridot felt herself muttering softly, “don’t do this, Lapis.”

She furrowed her brow and gazed at Peridot with watery eyes.

“I’m sorry. But I won’t let myself be anyone’s prisoner. Not _ever_ again.”

Lapis Lazuli spread her wings out behind her, turning away from Peridot and kicking off into the sky. 

Peridot was left alone in the alley, staring in shock up at the empty sky above. 

Droplets of water fell on her face. Then, more rolled down her cheeks.

She touched her skin. She was crying.  
  


* * *

  
  
Peridot had never seen so many of the DEO agents at once.

They all gathered at the shore of a private beach, clad in uniform, bulletproof vests, and armed with advanced anti-alien weaponry- some of which she swore she had seen on Homeworld. 

Wind and sand blasted into Peridot’s face as the spaceship lowered yards away onto the sand. 

She raised a gloved hand to block the glare of the sunlight, which reflected off of the ship and into her eyes.

Nausea climbed up her throat as a figure stepped out of the ship. She was at least eight feet tall and more muscular than Peridot had even thought was possible.

The agents fired, but each attack bounced harmlessly off of Jasper. Swallowing her fear, Peridot set a determined foot forward and then another- she rushed at her with a closed fist and swung one forward.

Jasper grabbed her arm and landed a hard hit right onto Peridot’s left leg.

Before she knew it, Peridot was on her knees and gasping for breath as pain choked her throat. She raised her head to meet Jasper’s narrowed eyes with her own wide, shocked ones.

Fast… She was much faster and more powerful than anyone Peridot had ever gone up against.

She was no match for Jasper.

“You _limp_.” she spat out, advancing past Peridot.

Shouting erupted behind her. Peridot turned her head and stared in horror.

“ _Pearl_ ,” Jasper spat, a large fist curled around the agent’s throat, “Remember me?”

“I do.”

“Where’s your sweet Rose now?” 

Peridot saw the agent’s eyes grow misty, “Gone.”

Jasper cackled, “Did you know her execution was broadcasted across planets? Too bad you didn’t get to see it. Now…”

The alien lifted Pearl by the throat so that her feet were dangling above the sand.

 _“Where is Lualhati?”_ Jasper hissed.

“Who’s… Lualhati?” Pearl asked weakly.

“Lualhati! Blue hair, blue eyes- the Tamaranean princess I _know_ you’re harboring!” 

Peridot’s jaw dropped. _Princess?_

Desperately, Peridot met Pearl’s eyes. 

They’d told her yesterday- upon her capture on Earth, Lapis was inserted with a device. The DEO could track her if they wanted to. It was all up to Pearl now.

The agent looked into the other’s pleading eyes. Peridot held her breath.

“She’s not here. We don’t know where she is.”

“LIAR!” Jasper roared, closing her fist tighter around Pearl’s neck, “I _know_ you have her. You and your crew were the ones who freed her and the other subjects!” 

“She left. She could be anywhere in the universe right now.” 

“I don’t believe you,” Jasper growled, “If you won’t tell me now, I’ll just have to kill each member of your pathetic team until you do- _starting with you.”_

 _No_ … Peridot felt her stomach twist. _She couldn’t just…_

Jasper raised a fist with her free hand as Pearl closed her eyes tightly. She looked resigned. 

_No…_

Peridot had promised herself. She wouldn’t let anyone get hurt because of her. Not ever again. 

“Tell Amethyst…” Pearl said weakly, meeting Peridot’s eyes, “I’m sorry…”

Jasper raised her fist up high, preparing for a fatal blow.

Before she could, however-

“STOP!” Peridot cried, forcing herself to her feet, “Take me! Take me instead of the princess!”

Jasper turned her head and lowered the fist.

“And why would I want you?”

“The Psions- they want to experiment with rare specimens right? I’m your next best choice. They’ll take me.”

“What makes you so sure?” Jasper asked, glaring. 

“Because-” Peridot raised her voice and straightened up, “My name is Peridot 2F5L! _Sector 5XG!”_

She choked out, tearfully, in her native Kryptonian:

 _“The last daughter of my Homeworld!”_

Jasper looked her over and dropped Pearl to the ground with a hard thud.

“A Kryptonian, huh? I thought you’d all been wiped out.”

“No-” Pearl gasped, as Jasper marched over and pulled her along, “Peridot! _No!”_

She gave an uneasy smile as she stood at the entrance of the ship. Jasper bound her wrists with chains. Pearl seemed frozen. 

When Peridot’s gaze drifted over to Garnet, she shuddered. The director looked straight through her with those dark shades.

Though her lips didn’t move, Peridot heard Garnet’s voice as clear as day: 

_“Bring her home.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> to be continued...


	12. All Alone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finding herself alone, Lapis Lazuli recounts her life before Earth. 
> 
> Peridot prepares for delivery to the Psions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this was so laaate but here's the long-awaited SEASON FINALE !

TAMARAN, 10 YEARS AGO…

“And those barbarians continue to advance from the left…”

Lualhati raised an eyebrow at her parents’ conversation. She twirled food around on her plate before taking a generous bite.

“They won’t stand a chance,” she said.

Her father laughed, “Of course. We’ll crush them in no time.”

“It is _such_ a waste of resources, though…” the Queen murmured, “If only some sort of plague would wipe them out for us.”

Lualhati laughed softly, taking a sip from her drink. She was a princess. She had nothing to fear.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a guard step through the large doors of the dining room. He walked inside quietly and whispered in the King’s ears. 

Lualhati frowned as she saw her father’s expression tense. Wordlessly, he got out of his chair and motioned for the Queen to do the same.

All three left the room, leaving Lualhati on her own. 

She wondered what was so important.

  


* * *

  


_“And I feel so all alone... No one’s gonna miss me when I’m gone…!”_

“STOP SINGING!” Jasper shouted in irritation.

Peridot stuck out her tongue, “You can’t make me! I’ll do what I-”

Jasper’s fist came barreling towards her. With a grunt, Peridot fell head-first to the floor. Blood dripped down her nose.

“Well, I guess you can, huh…”

Taking a seat in the pilot’s chair, Jasper ignored her and fiddled with the controls.

“You’re really just gonna let me chill right here?” Peridot asked.

She had been expecting a cell, but instead Jasper simply kept her in handcuffs and told her to stay put.

Kinky, she’d said. Jasper didn’t laugh. 

Her captor scoffed, “Not like you pose much of a threat in handcuffs. Ha! You can barely walk as it is. At least you’ll make decent replacement for Lualhati…”

_Lualhati…_

Peridot wondered where she was by now. Probably halfway across the galaxy.

  


* * *

  


Her parents were given news from the Citadel- an ever-growing fascist empire. They would leave Tamaran alone, on one condition:

Lualhati would be sold to them as a slave.

“You’re not serious…” she said, her voice shaking.

The Queen smiled nervously, “This is a good thing, dear… You’ll be our hero. You’ll save all of Tamaran…”

Her blue eyes widened, “I don’t want to! I don’t want to leave! You’re really going to give me up to the Citadel?! Your own _daughter?”_

Her mother’s eyes began to water, “We can’t stop them. Our resources are spread thinly enough trying to stop threats from our own planet… This is our only chance!”

“ _Your_ only chance! This is the end of it for me!”

The queen approached her nervously, “They won’t kill you, sweetheart… And you’ll be known as a hero for as long as Tamaran lasts… Don’t you want that?”

 _“NO!”_ Lualhati shouted, throwing a nearby vase so that it shattered onto the floor, “I don’t want to be a hero!”

“This is your duty-”

 _“WHAT OF DUTY?”_ she shrieked, “For my whole life, the only _duty_ you two have given me was to stand around and look pretty! Don’t speak of duty now so that you can justify _selling your daughter!”_

“Your father and I love you…”

“THEN DON’T SEND ME AWAY!” 

The Queen’s expression hardened, “I can’t do that.”

“Th-then I’ll leave!” she stammered, rushing for the door.

As Lualhati shook it, desperately trying to force it open, footsteps echoed from behind her.

Suddenly, she felt a sharp pain in her back and cried out. Lualhati dropped to the floor, her head swimming.

She saw the blurry legs of two men stepping forward, followed by her mother’s voice:

“I’m afraid you won’t be going anywhere, dear.”

  


* * *

  


Peridot couldn’t go anywhere. 

Her leg still throbbed from when Jasper hit it, and she was too exhausted to even try and use her powers. Blood still dripped from her nose. 

Sure, she could probably try to escape… but she couldn’t defeat Jasper. Even if Peridot got away, the soldier would just come back for her. Saving herself meant risking everyone back home.

She squeezed her eyes shut and sighed- _what had she gotten herself into?_

_“Fuck!”_

A shout from Jasper pulled her out of her thoughts. The alien seemed to still be fussing with the controls. Peridot couldn’t help but giggle. 

“Don’t laugh!” she shouted.

“I-I’m sorry-” Peridot stammered, “but they _really_ didn’t give you a pilot?”

She laughed more, “A meathead like you trying to control an advanced aircraft… _Ha!_ I’m surprised you made it this far!”

“As if you could do any better,” Jasper grumbled.

Peridot smiled slyly, “You do know what planet I came from, right?”

“The one that was destroyed by its own inhabitants?”

Her stomach sank at the memory, but she kept a straight face, “We were _known_ for our technological advancements. I was an engineer. Of course I could fly this thing.”

“Then do it.”

Peridot stared at her. She waited for Jasper to say that she was kidding, but the comment never came.

“You seriously trust me?”

Jasper scoffed, “I don’t have to. Try anything, and I could knock you out in a second. Or worse.” 

Peridot exhaled. She had a point. Handcuffed or not, she was trapped.

  


* * *

  


Lualhati woke up slumped against a dirty wall with her wrists bound. She was still in her dress. The fabric seemed to weigh her down to the floor. Her jewelry- a mix of gold beads and lapis lazuli- felt like ice against her skin. 

Still groggy, she raised her head with difficulty and squinted into the darkness. 

Iron bars stood a few feet in front of her. She was in a cell.

Lualhati couldn’t believe it… Her own parents had given her up just as she was on the cusp of taking the throne.

Her own bitter laugh echoed throughout the small space. Who was she kidding? Even though they were her parents, those two never really loved her. They were always too wrapped up in their precious kingdom. The only love they had was for power.

“Get up,” a voice hissed in broken Tamaranean. 

Lualhati stood up with shaking legs and stumbled to the front of her cell.

Glaring, yellow eyes met hers. The alien looked to be some sort of guard: they were ten feet tall, muscular, and suited up in a uniform decorated with the emblem of the Citadel Empire. 

The alien sipped from a small cup and shoved it between the bars, a few inches from Lualhati’s face. 

“ _Drink_ ,” they spat. 

Lualhati cringed and took a forced sip from the cup. As she swallowed, her mind swam with the new words of the language that the guard spoke.

“What’s going to happen now?” she asked weakly. 

“You’ll be interrogated,” the guard said, “I suggest you answer honestly- unless you _want_ to be tortured.

She answered any questions they asked. Her loyalty to her planet was gone- taken the same way she’d been ripped from her Homeworld. 

When it was over, Lualhati leaned against the rough wall and stared at nothing. She didn’t wonder what they would do with the information. She didn’t care about anything anymore.

  


* * *

  


Pearl walked towards Amethyst in grim silence. 

“Oh, man, your neck…” Amethyst said worriedly, gingerly touching the bruises Jasper had given her.

“I’m fine…” Pearl murmured softly. 

Amethyst leaned in for a tight embrace, “I’m so glad you’re okay, P...”

Guiltily, Pearl began to pull apart.

“Amethyst, there’s something I have to tell you…”

“Where’s Peridot?” she asked with a sudden glance around the DEO.

Pearl took a shaky breath and felt her eyes begin to water, “She’s- she’s gone…”

Her girlfriend’s face fell. With a weak voice, Pearl told her everything that had happened.

“But-” Amethyst began, “you can save her, right?”

Pearl shook her head as tears fell down her face. For the first time since Rose, she had no idea no idea what to do. 

“Lapis will come back. She’ll fix this…”

Pearl wasn’t sure about that. She squeezed her eyes shut and spoke, “Amethyst… she might be halfway across the universe by now.”

“No, she’s not.” 

They both looked up at Garnet’s sudden voice.

“I checked her tracker,” the woman said, “She hasn’t gone far. She hasn’t gone any further since she first left.”

“Where is she?”

Garnet smiled, “On the moon.”

  


* * *

  


Lapis stood, frozen, on the rocky surface. She put her head in her hands.

_What was she doing?_

She’d been in the same spot for what felt like days. Lapis had only made it this far before she’d started to feel a painful tugging in her gut, as if she had some sort of string or rope keeping her tied to Earth. 

Why couldn’t she just _leave?_

Lapis pinched the bridge of her nose. She _knew_ why- she didn’t need a rope to keep her… Everytime she thought about going any further, Peridot’s wide, desperate green eyes came into her mind. She couldn’t bear the thought of leaving her. 

Still, Lapis couldn’t help but feel stuck. She was afraid.

Not of Jasper, but… Lapis shuddered at the memory. She _wanted_ to return, but she couldn’t risk it. Not after everything the Psions did to her.

  


* * *

  


Her captors had cut her hair and strapped her to a table. The metal surface felt like ice against her skin, but not for long.

Soon, it felt like every cell in her body was burning as the Psions overloaded her with ultraviolet radiation. 

She felt more power and energy than she had in her entire life. Her heart pounded. Her skin became covered in blisters. She screamed at all of the power running through her veins and making her blood boil. 

Lualhati was sure she would die, but then-

Everything stopped.

Lualhati heard chaos over the cotton that seemed to be stuffed in her ears. The Psions that had been standing over her were now gone. Everything was tinted bright blue.

She lowered her eyes to get a glimpse of what she was expecting to be her own, horribly burned body, only to realize that her skin was completely healed. 

Lualhati then realized that she felt different. Powerful. Unstoppable. The unbearable pain from before was now just a faint memory to her.

Groaning, she forced her way out of her restraints. The metal bent like putty. 

Lualhati walked to the exit and opened a door made of what should’ve been some of the strongest material in the galaxy. It snapped off its hinges in a second. 

Filled with awe, she looked down at her own two hands. Tamaraneans could absorb ultraviolet radiation and convert it into energy. It gave them their ability to fly, but not much more. The experiments…

Lualhati felt herself begin to laugh. It had been torture, but now she could do so much more. She was strong. Stronger than anyone out there. Never again would she let herself be a prisoner.

Stepping over the body of a Psion, the former princess grinned. Who had freed her, she wondered. 

“Are you alright?” someone asked beside her.

Lualhati was shocked to realize it was in her native Tamaranean. She nodded slowly.

The alien- a tall, gorgeous woman with curly pink hair and a spandex uniform- placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. 

“It’s a shame, really… I never want to be violent, but these Psions…” the woman shook her head, “They’re horrible, cruel creatures. Their experiments _had_ to be stopped…”

Lualhati only half-listened. Her mind was elsewhere, thinking of other horrible, cruel creatures- her parents. She had to see them.

She was free. She could take her life back. 

And, if her parents tried to stop her… Lualhati would force them to give it to her. 

“My name is Rose,” the alien said softly, “My forces and I- we ended the reign of the Citadel not long ago, so we came here to-”

“They’re gone?” Lualhati asked with disbelief.

“For now, at least,” Rose smiled, “Unfortunately, my forces were weakened. I’ve done as much as I can, but after finishing here, my allies and I are going to a planet called Earth. It’s far from any sort of alien empire. It’ll be safe for all of us. Would you like to join?”

“No…” she replied softly, beginning to hover in the air, “I have other plans.” 

“But where will you go?” Rose asked.

Lualhati took a deep breath, “Home."

  


* * *

  


Lualhati had taken off for Tamaran before Rose had the chance to respond, but she wished that she’d waited.

When she arrived back home, she fell to her knees and sobbed.

Tamaran had been taken over by the Citadel. Now, it was a complete wasteland.

  


* * *

  


Lapis Lazuli stared at the pale, rocky surface beneath her. She had to leave… If she was captured and taken back to the Psions…

Her eyes suddenly went wide. 

The Psions wanted Lapis because she was Tamaranean royalty… How eager would they be to experiment on the last surviving Kryptonian in the entire universe?

Lapis’ heart pounded. She couldn’t believe she’d been so selfish...

If Jasper couldn’t get _her_ , Peridot would be the perfect replacement. 

Lapis set her eyes on Earth. She had to go back. She needed to save her.

She’d subject herself to experimentation again and again if it meant preventing Peridot from suffering the same fate. No one deserved what she went through. 

Spreading her water wings, Lapis Lazuli took off towards Earth.

  


* * *

  


It took Peridot at least ten minutes to get the spaceship started up.

“This thing is pretty clunky, isn’t it?” she asked.

Jasper scowled at her, roughly cuffing her wrists and pulling her out of the pilot’s chair.

“Shut up.”

“How long have you been using it without any repairs? Give it a few more months, and it might just break down.”

Jasper ignored her and fiddled with the controls. Peridot grunted and fell to her knees as the room suddenly shifted. Ouch. 

Her heart began to pound. They were really about to take off…

Was this going to be the end of her time on Earth? What would the Psions do, she wondered…

She thought about Pearl and Amethyst. Her eyes began to water. Peridot hoped they would be okay. They were good for each other. 

Squeezing her eyes shut, she tried not to cry. _Bring her home_ , Garnet had said. Maybe this wasn’t the end. Maybe she knew something that Peridot didn’t.

As the ship rose into the air, Peridot gripped the wall as well as she could with bound hands. Everything felt like it was spinning. She held her breath, but just as Jasper began to shift the aircraft into lightspeed-

It stopped moving. Peridot looked outside the glass and felt her jaw drop. They were surrounded by water. 

Something strong and powerful tore the exit open and jerked the ship with a loud creak. 

Hovering in the air beyond the empty space was Lapis Lazuli, her expression darkened in rage and eyes glowing an eerie blue. 

_“JASPER!”_ she roared, raising her arms and sending two tendrils of water to wrap around the alien’s wrists and pin her in place.

Lapis flew forward and gripped the alien’s throat.

 _“Your people took everything from me!”_ she shouted, “My home, my culture, _my whole world! Do you really think I’m going to let you take her too?!”_

“Lualhati,” she choked, grinning, “You’ve gotten stronger, haven’t you?”

Furiously, Lapis raised Jasper’s head and slammed it back against the dashboard.

_“My name is Lapis Lazuli!”_

Lifting a hand, she formed the shape of a blade and made it crystallize into ice. 

“You’re crazy…” Jasper gasped, attempting to struggle against Lapis’ grip. 

“I won’t be your prisoner. _Not ever again!_ And now…” she raised the blade above her head, “No one else will either.” 

_“WAIT!”_ Peridot cried out.

Turning her head, Lapis shot a worried glare at her, “Peridot…?”

“Lapis, this isn’t you,” she said breathlessly, “You’ve never killed anyone before!” 

“You don’t know what she’s done, Peridot! What her people have done!” 

“Please,” Peridot replied desperately, “Let’s take her back to the DEO. Imprison her there, where she can’t hurt anyone. You don’t have to kill her.” 

Lapis’ eyes shifted between Jasper and Peridot. Before she could make a decision, however, a warning alarm sounded around them.

It was in another language, but apparently one that Lapis knew. Eyes wide, she turned to Peridot.

“We have to get out of her. This thing’s about to blow.”

It was already damaged… Lapis’ attack must’ve caused it to overheat.

Smoke began to fill the space around them. Lapis broke the restraints off of Peridot’s hands and grabbed her wrist..

“Let’s go.”

Peridot bit her lip, “I can’t walk…”

5… 4…

Lapis’ eyes glistened in understanding. Quickly, she picked Peridot up bridal style and flew out of the open exit.

3… 2… 1…

_BOOM!_

Lapis wrapped her arms and wings protectively around Peridot as smoke and shrapnel surrounded them. The Kryptonian felt nothing but heat and the Lapis’ tight embrace.

Finally, she loosened her grip enough for Peridot to lean back and let her eyes flutter open. She gazed into Lapis’ as hard as she could. She’d missed seeing them. 

Since the noise of the explosion, Peridot couldn’t hear much except for the ringing in her ears, but it didn’t matter. She and Lapis were the only two in the world at that moment.

They were together. Everything would be okay.

Peridot caressed the sides of her hero’s face with shaky hands, “You’re here… You’re really here…”

Breathlessly, Lapis replied, “Yeah... Sorry I was late.” 

Peridot watched as Lapis shifted her gaze below.

“Do you think she’s…?”

“Hey,” Peridot said softly, “don’t worry about her anymore. It’s okay.”

Lapis smiled at her with wet eyes.

“Let’s go home.”

  


* * *

  


“Hey- why all the long faces?”

Peridot stood with Lapis, grinning at all of the shocked expressions of each DEO employee. 

She had about five seconds before she was suffocated with hugs from Amethyst and Pearl. All three of them toppled to the floor.

“Oww…” Peridot muttered.

She was shocked to look up and see Pearl full-on sobbing: 

“Who said you could be the hero!?” 

Amethyst laughed out loud, “Pearl, relax! She’s here. It’s good.”

“I know…” she murmured, “I know. Agent Dean, it’s good to have you back.” 

Peridot grinned, “It’s good to be back.” 

Suddenly, she felt a tap on her shoulder and turned her head to see a smiling Lapis.

The heroine offered her hand, “Hey, Peridot?”

“Hm?”

She grabbed it and Lapis pulled her onto unsteady feet. Before Peridot could stumble, Lapis gripped her waist, laid a hand on her cheek, and dipped her in a passionate kiss.

When they broke apart, Amethyst was cheering, Pearl was smiling, and Peridot stared shell-shocked into Lapis’ sly face. 

“It’s about time.” 

Peridot jumped and glanced behind her to see Garnet grinning. She covered her face as she felt herself begin to blush.

“You too?!”

“You’re not exactly subtle about it, Peri…” Lapis said with a laugh. 

Sheepishly, Peridot cleared her throat and tried to change the subject:

“Hey, uh- wanna work together?” 

“We already do.”

“I mean _here_ ,” Peridot said, “at the DEO. We’d be unstoppable together! It’d be great!” 

Lapis stared at her for a few moments, before her lips slowly curled into a smile.

She turned her head, “Hey, _Pearl_ \- I’ll join your stupid club!”

Pearl smiled nervously and looked at Garnet, who gave the two a simple thumbs up. Peridot felt her face light up and spread into an even wider grin.

“Now…” Lapis said softly, “Let’s get out of here.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it was pretty much the best post-rescue kiss of all time ;)
> 
> so...... there's gonna be a hiatus now sorryyyy (gotta be true to the source material hohoho also i have ap tests n finals) hopefully apll will be returning with a brand new season no later than june ;)) expect a preview & possibly deleted scenes in the meantime! this is only the beginning!
> 
> and be sure to follow my tumblr kind-of-trash for supergirl au ART!!! 
> 
> thank you so so much everyone who read & kept me going, thank you for all your comments & kudos, & see you next chap!!


	13. Dissolve Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peridot celebrates her first year anniversary of arriving on Earth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey everyone, it's been a while! i hope you all enjoyed the "season" finale last chapter ;) now gear up for season two !!

Peridot raced as quickly as she could on uneasy feet. Her boots clacked against the concrete. 

"STOP!" she yelled at the robber, "You son of a half-formed-!"

A hard thud echoed from down the alleyway. Peridot exhaled softly, looking up at the blue-eyed alien who'd been waiting for them at the opposite end. 

Lapis smiled, "Brings back memories, right?"

She doubled over, panting, "You know, I totally could've taken him."

"That's what you said last time."

Peridot smiled, straightening up. The distant shine of a streetlight illuminated her suit, emphasizing the bright green triangle that replaced her old emblem. 

"Thanks for the help, though." 

"No problem. I like the new look."

Peridot grinned, "Isn't it fitting? It's a peridot!' 

Lapis walked forward and stepped over the unconscious robber. Pulling her close, she whispered, "I love it." 

Peridot felt her breath slip away as she was pulled into a brief kiss.

It wasn't until Lapis' form had disappeared into the night sky that she could breathe again. 

It was then that Peridot realized Lapis had left her both the robber and the stolen money to take care of. 

She huffed and swung the man over her shoulder.

* * *

When Peridot hobbled into her apartment later that night, she wasn't surprised to find Amethyst still wide awake. Her roommate turned to her with a smile and wave. 

"Late night?" 

She groaned, "I had to drag the bad guy to the police station myself! Lapis just left after knocking him out."

Amethyst smirked, "Sounds like her."

Sinking tiredly into the couch, Peridot looked up. Their TV seemed to be playing some dumb beach movie. She'd never been into those. They were boring.

Peridot watched idly as a young actress pulled her friend along.

_"Come on! Let's go into the water."_

She felt her eyes begin to drift shut. She must've been more tired than she thought.

_"Alright, alright..."_

"Are you coming?"

Lapis' voice rang in her ears, snapping her awake.

Peridot looked up from the beach chair she was slumped against. The girl's blue eyes glimmered down at her.

"Don't you want to swim?"

She shrugged. Lapis held her hand out, and Peridot took it. 

Her left leg ached as she was pulled onto her feet. The white sand and sun seemed to burn her skin. 

"It's so hot," Peridot whined.

"Well…" Lapis began, "Let's get into the water then, dummy." 

She pulled her along to the shore. Peridot squinted as the sun reflected off of the bright blue waves and into her green eyes. She focused on Lapis, watching her skirt billow in the wind as she stepped into the water.

Peridot hesitated.

"It's okay," Lapis insisted, "It's safe." 

Peridot wasn't sure about that. She'd seen all of the things that Lapis could do with water. It wasn't safe at all. Not around her. 

She tried to take a step forward, but something was wrong. Her knees buckled. Her left leg gave out beneath her.

Lapis was suddenly far away from her. 

Peridot felt into the waves. Water swirled around her submerged hands and legs, and her stomach flipped like ocean waves. It wasn't clear anymore. It was cloudy with dark red blood.

 _"Peridot!"_ someone cried out, _"Peridot, wake up!"_

She tried to move. She tried to call back, but her voice was overtaken by screams of agony. 

Waves crashed over her. Peridot felt herself pulled into the current and unable to breathe. 

She knew not to inhale. She held her breath until her lungs burned and every cell in her body screamed for relief. When she couldn't take anymore, she let water fill her airway.

Peridot gasped awake. 

She squeezed her eyes shut as her leg gave a particularly painful twinge. It had been weeks since she was shot, but the soreness lingered along with that ugly scar.

Exhaling shakily, Peridot forced herself to sit up. She was still on the couch, but it seemed like Amethyst had thrown a blanket over her. 

She checked the time on her phone. Huh. Five in the morning. She'd woken up before her alarm. Nightmares had some perks.

Peridot gingerly slid off the couch and made her way to the bathroom. Once she showered, she put on a dress shirt, green sweater, and a navy pencil skirt that made her think of Lapis. She wondered if the reporter would be in today.

* * *

"Hey, loser." 

"That's mean."

Lapis cracked a grin, "Do you have a minute?" 

Peridot glanced down at the files she was organizing, "I'll be done in ten. Why?" 

"The copy machine needs more paper. You can find some in the supply closet. Thanks!"

Before Peridot could protest that she was Miss Diamond's assistant and not Lapis', the ex-princess had hurried out of sight. She huffed. Whatever. It wouldn't take too long, anyway.

* * *

Instead of paper, the assistant found Lapis' lips waiting for her in the closet. 

"Mmph!" Peridot gasped as she was pulled into a kiss.

Lapis slid her hands down the younger woman's waist, and it wasn't long before they became the only two in National City. 

Peridot ran her fingers through short blue locks as her lips remained pressed against her partner's. They pulled apart only when she found herself breathless and desperate for air. 

"Holy smokes…" she whispered. 

Lapis smiled. She'd been doing that a lot lately. 

"Don't worry about the paper."

Peridot felt her lips spread into a sly grin, "Did you _lie_ to me Lazuli?" 

"Just a white lie," she said softly, leaning in again. Peridot's legs grew weak at the feeling of warm breath against her skin. 

Their lips connected, and this time Lapis' hands wandered down to her hips. She went slowly, cautiously. Peridot relaxed into her embrace. 

"Nngh-" she exhaled.

Lapis had just bit her bottom lip. Peridot placed a hand on the back of her partner's head, gently urging her to continue, but she pulled away.

"Lapis…" Peridot said breathlessly. 

To her surprise, she let out a small laugh.

"What?" 

Lapis grinned, "You're all red." 

Peridot covered her face, "No, I'm not."

"Heh, well, I should probably get back to work. You should too…"

"Yeah…" she breathed.

"Will I see you tonight?"

"Tonight?"

"Miss Diamond's party." 

Peridot grinned dreamily, "Yeah. Yeah, I'll see you…"

* * *

"Where were you?" Miss Diamond asked, irritated.

Peridot cleared her throat and stammered, "Uh, the bathroom." 

"For ten minutes?" her boss squinted at her, "I'm not even going to pretend to care why you look like a ripe tomato…"

She covered her face with a stack of files.

"Moving on… I'm having a party tonight, as you know. I expect you'll be there in something that isn't from the Goodwill." 

"O-of course! I have… so many dresses."

* * *

Peridot didn't own a single dress. 

Before she could worry too much, however, her thoughts drifted towards the cake in her apartment.

"Amethyst…" she asked slowly, squinting at the writing, "Who's that for?"

"You!" her roommate answered with a grin, "Happy Earthiversary!" 

"Happy… what?"

Amethyst presented her with a slice of cake, "Earthiversary. It's been a whole year since you crash-landed here, dude!" 

Peridot suddenly felt her face fall. A whole year, huh? So much had happened since then… She'd been distracted. Now, it finally hit her:

She really was never going back.

Amethyst poked her with a fork, "You okay?"

Peridot forced a smile, taking the fork and slice of cake, "Yeah. I'm fine, thanks." 

"C'mon," her roommate said, nudging her, "Wanna watch CPH or something?" 

She nodded, and they made their way towards the couch. Still, Peridot couldn't keep her thoughts on the TV.

Homeworld was objectively terrible. Slavery, monarchism, classism… She should hate it. She should be glad it's gone, but… it was her home. It still felt like home. 

As much as she liked National City, it wasn't the same. The streets were nothing like Homeworld's bustling capital, and Earth's technology couldn't even begin to compare with that of her former planet. 

Now, all of it was gone. Good and bad. Peridot had lost everything… 

In a small voice, she turned to Amethyst and said, "I have to get ready for Miss Diamond's party tonight…"

"Oh, okay." 

Peridot stood up and walked slowly to her room, hoping that Amethyst hadn't noticed how hard she was trembling.

* * *

Finding a dress turned out to be easier than Peridot expected. The DEO had a closet filled with all sorts of different outfits for undercover work, and it wasn't long before she found a beautiful green dress with black lace across the neckline. The thin straps left her showing more skin than she was used to, but she didn't have time to worry about that- she was already going to be late. 

"Calliope, what do I always say?" 

Peridot cowered under the glare of her boss, "Sneeze into your elbow?" 

Miss Diamond pinched the bridge of her nose, " _Always_ be on time."

"Sorry…"

"And where are the magazines? The ones I asked you to bring to be framed?" 

"They're, uh..." Peridot stammered- she'd completely forgotten, "With…"

"Miss Diamond!" Lapis' voice came from behind.

She turned, and her jaw nearly dropped. The Tamaranean was wearing a satin, navy blue dress whose v-neck dipped all the way down to the end of her sternum and left enough exposed for Peridot's cheeks to grow warm. It hugged Lapis' slight curves and stopped just inches above her knee. She looked absolutely stunning. 

" _Penelope_ here asked me to bring these," she began, handing the CEO a stack of Diamond Dept. magazines, "She stayed up all night autographing them with your name, so she's probably a little scatterbrained."

Miss Diamond raised an eyebrow and took them from Lapis' hands, "I'm almost impressed." 

When her boss walked out of earshot, Peridot exhaled, "Thank you, Lola." 

Lapis smiled slyly, "No problem, Penny. I have a lot of free time when I leave you to handle the bad guys." 

She managed a smile.

"Now…" her partner began, holding out a hand, "Please tell me you danced on your planet."

Peridot shook her head, "I can't dance."

"Aw, come on…" 

She glanced down at her left leg, which was already beginning to protest her wedges. Peridot doubted she'd be coordinated enough to follow Lapis in a dance. She'd probably trip over her own feet.

"No, really, I…"

Lapis' eyes glimmered. She took Peridot's hand and placed it against her neck, then raised the other and clasped it in her own.

"Trust me." 

Peridot smiled shyly and let Lapis lead her closer to the music. Eventually, she pulled her hand away from her partner's and brought it up to the one resting against her neck. 

Lapis set her own hands against Peridot's hips, and they swayed gently to the music. 

"Wow, you really can't dance, can you?"

Peridot blushed, "There was no time back home…"

Lapis' smile suddenly fell, "Speaking of that… Amethyst told me it's been a year since you came here. How do you feel?" 

"You talk to Amethyst?" 

Lapis shrugged, "She's cool."

Her partner's expression fell when she noticed Peridot's dull one. Frowning, she asked, "You okay?" 

"Yeah, just…" she sighed, "Lapis?" 

"Hm?"

"How long did it take for this place to feel like home?"

Lapis gave her a small, sad smile and squeezed her hand, "A while. I used to hate it. People were rude. Everyone looked at me like I was an alien just because I wouldn't wear shoes."

Peridot held back a smile as Lapis continued, "For so long, I just wanted to go home, but… I ended up saving this one kid. He was sweet; he didn't judge people for being different. Even alien-different. He was the first person to ever show me kindness, and it made me realize that humans weren't all bad. Some were worth being protected."

Lapis cupped the side of Peridot's face with her other hand, smiling warmly. She continued in a soft voice, "And then I met you… Someone who also lost their world. I realized I wasn't alone."

Peridot sniffed, and her partner pulled her closer. The music slowed and Lapis hummed along. She didn't say anything even as the Kryptonian trembled against her, or soft droplets spilled onto her shoulder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> next chapter will be out on 8/6 ! in the meantime, listen to "dissolve me" by alt-j :^)


	14. Way it Goes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Worried that Peridot may be overextending herself, Lapis takes her to experience alcohol for the first time.

Peridot figured she should get used to starting the day with water up her nose.

Coughing, the Kryptonian swatted her hand and sent a piece of junk hurtling towards her partner. Lapis quickly raised an arm, stopping the metal with a rope of water and throwing it back to Peridot.

Stumbling backwards, she gasped, "That's not fair!" 

Lapis smirked and flicked her wrist. Water shot up from the puddle Peridot had walked into and wrapped around her ankles. As the Tamaranean's hand closed into a fist, the bindings froze her to the ground. 

Peridot tried to move and fell to her knees. When her palms connected to the ground, they seemed to buzz as they sensed all the forgotten bits of metal buried in the ground. 

While Lapis approached her, she thrust a hand upward and an old pipe raised from the ground. She tripped. 

Peridot laughed, "Lapis, are you falling for me?" 

Face flushing, she rolled her eyes and summoned her wings to raise herself up. Peridot forced herself out of the ice just as Lapis raised her arms for another attack. 

The heroine gathered water from the humid air and sent it in the form of frozen spikes towards Peridot, who quickly rolled to the side. 

Stumbling to her feet, Peridot felt her stomach sink at the sight of Lapis approaching. Without thinking, she swung her fist towards the heroine.

She didn't dodge. Peridot doubled over and let out a cry of pain, cradling her fist.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck…"

Lapis started laughing. "Oh my stars, are you okay?" 

_"Fine." ___

With a sympathetic smile, she took Peridot's hand and examined it gently.

"I think that's enough for today." 

"Really?" Peridot whined, "Y'know, I think all the kissing has made you soft- _ow_." 

Lapis had punched her in the arm.

"You're the soft one," she said with a laugh, "Come on, we should…"

The Tamaranean trailed off at the distant sound of sirens. Peridot shot her a sly smile, before raising her hand, summoning a trash can lid, and taking off. 

* * *

_“PENELOPE!”_

“GAH!” Peridot yelped, nearly falling out of her chair. She heard Lapis snigger nearby as her heart pounded from the rude awakening.

Turning her head, she glared and shouted, "What was that for?!" 

Lapis shrugged, “I thought it’d be funny. You’re really jumpy, huh?”

Blushing, she put her glasses back on and organized the papers that lay scattered over her desk. She was pretty tired, so she must’ve drifted off…

"Anyone would be startled if you screamed in their ear…" she muttered, stifling a yawn. 

Lapis frowned at her, "How much sleep did you get last night?" 

Peridot collected a few of her papers into a stack and stood up. Listlessly, she answered, "Y'know… A few hours or so." 

The Tamaranean followed behind her as she made her way to Miss Diamond's office. Before Peridot could open the drawer, she suddenly stopped and leaned against the file cabinets. 

"Peridot?" Lapis frowned. 

Her face was tight with pain. She smiled sheepishly as she rubbed her left leg, "Sorry. A little sore." 

Peridot watched as Lapis crossed her arms, "You've been pushing yourself too hard. Of course it is." 

Huffing, Peridot put away the files she held in her hand, "I have to push myself. It's called training." 

"But your leg-" 

"Will be _fine_ ," she insisted, furrowing her brow, "And you don't need to rub my uselessness in my face, I'm well aware." 

Lapis bit her lip. She went silent. Peridot kept her grumpy expression until the reporter walked forward and placed her palms on the girl's shoulders.

"What are you doing?" 

"Y'know…" Lapis murmured, rubbing the stiff muscles, "You are _so_ tense. I know exactly how to help." 

* * *

"Alcohol?"

Lapis' lips formed into a smile, "Liquor." 

Peridot eyed the shot glass with reservation. Amethyst hadn't let her try alcohol before. She always kept her bottle of tequila protected by a child lock and told Peridot it wasn't good for her. 

"I don't know…"

"Come on," Lapis urged her, "It'll help you relax."

Peridot stared for a few more seconds, before finally picking up the glass and downing the shot.

She gagged- it was like drinking fire.

Lapis attempted to hold back laughter as Peridot coughed.

Cringing, she asked, "Why do humans drink this stuff?" 

"You'll see," Lapis answered with a sly smile.

Peridot didn't believe her, but fifteen minutes later, she felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. Everything seemed… better. She leaned back into her chair and smiled softly at Lapis.

Her partner raised an eyebrow and grinned, "Are you feeling it yet?" 

Peridot nodded, "Can I get another?" 

"Sure, but…" Lapis began as she stood up, "You sure you can take it?" 

"Of course I can!" Peridot insisted, "I'm strong."

The Tamaranean simply raised an eyebrow before turning to the bartender. When she sat down again, Lapis clasped her hands in front of her and smiled mischievously.

"I bet you can't handle more than me." 

"Try me, Lazuli."

A few shots later, and soon everything seemed to be spinning. Peridot felt just as giddy as she'd been when Lapis had first kissed her. To her surprise, however, the ex-princess seemed unaffected. Slowly, Peridot came to a realization.

"Alcool… Doesn' affect you, does it…?" she slurred.

Lapis grinned, "Nope."

"Hey… That's not fair…" 

She reached out and squeezed Peridot's hand, "I did it for you. Now there's no way you'll be able to do any superhero-ing tomorrow."

Peridot frowned at her for a few moments, before suddenly giggling. Confused, Lapis raised an eyebrow and asked:

"What's so funny?" 

"You care…"

Lapis flicked her, "Of course I care, dummy." 

Peridot smiled lopsidedly for a few moments, before she suddenly ducked her head.

Standing by the counter was a woman with very obvious horns sticking out of her forehead. Next to her, a man stood with snakelike eyes and scaly skin.

"Lapis…" she said in a hushed whisper, "Aliens… here…!" 

Her partner looked unfazed, "Well, yeah." 

"Aren't you worried? Shouldn' we tell the DEO?" 

Lapis cracked a smile and replied, "Peri… It's an alien bar. That's why it was so hidden." 

Peridot clasped her hands together, " _Ohhh_ …" 

Lapis then stood up and kissed her hand. Smiling warmly, she said, "I'm going to go to the bathroom. Be right back." 

Peridot grinned dreamily as the reporter walked away. She pulled out her phone and scrolled through Twitter, laughing at something Lapis had tagged her in. 

"How much is it?" a familiar voice sounded from a few feet away. 

Freezing, she dropped her phone and flinched at the thud it made against the table. That voice… No way...

Peridot turned her head and held her breath. She pleaded to Rao that she had heard wrong, but there was no mistaking it.

Jasper was alive, and standing only a few feet away from her. 

"What a rip off," she muttered, before turning around to leave. The warrior's footsteps seemed to echo in Peridot's throbbing head. She gripped the table, exhaling shakily. The warrior hadn't seen her. Thank the gods. 

She couldn't believe it. She'd seen the blast. Both Peridot and Lapis were sure that she had died. 

Jasper was stronger than they even knew. 

"Still alive?" a voice snapped Peridot out of her thoughts. 

She looked up. Lapis' smile soon fell.

"Peridot? You look like you've seen a ghost." 

"W-we should leave," she stammered, trying to stand up, "We should leave right now." 

Lapis grabbed her arms to steady her, "Why? What's wrong?" 

She shook her head, "We need to get out of here." 

Peridot stumbled towards the exit as Lapis followed quickly behind. Once they'd made it into the darkness outside, her partner squeezed her shoulder.

"What happened? Talk to me."

Everything was spinning. She couldn't think.

"I don't… I don't feel so good…"

Before Lapis could react, Peridot pitched forward and vomited onto the concrete. 

* * *

"Are you _sure_ it was her?" 

"How many Earthlings are eight feet tall?!" 

Peridot knelt in front of the toilet and wiped her hand across her sweaty brow, shaking her head hopelessly, "She's back. She survived."

"How are you gonna tell Lapis?" Amethyst asked, passing her a glass of water.

She squeezed her eyes shut against the pounding in her head, "I can't. I can't tell her. What if she leaves again?"

Amethyst frowned at her, "She won't."

"You don't know that…" 

"Are you really going to try and face Jasper alone?" 

"Not alone…" she murmured, "I have you… And the DEO."

"But Lapis is part of the DEO now. You can't just keep it from her. Besides, Jasper will come out of hiding eventually." 

She didn't respond. She stared at her water. 

Peridot felt Amethyst's hand on her shoulder, "Look, I know you think you're protecting her, but you're not doing her any favours. And I don't think she's gonna be too happy when she finds out you've been lying to her. I know I wasn't."

Guilt stirred in her stomach. Peridot took a deep breath. Her headache made it hard to think.

"I can't tell her. Not yet. I'll… I'll figure something else out."

Amethyst sighed and stood up. "You're just like Pearl."

With that, her roommate left her alone and feeling worse than ever. Peridot leaned against the sink and opened her phone.

She had three missed calls from Lapis. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this was so late!! had an unexpected sister starbucks scandal (my work) that made me rather stressedavocado and sads but its all good now :^) new chap should be 8/26 !!


	15. Spirits

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lapis and Peridot find themselves haunted by the past.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this is late again, i just started college !

Lapis stared in the mirror. Strands of wet blue hair hung in her face like spider legs. She traced the discolouration under her eyes with a finger and sighed. 

Five years… She'd been free for five years, but sometimes she still felt trapped. 

They'd never searched for a body. Maybe Jasper had been buried underneath the wreckage in the ocean. Maybe she was a corpse, miles away from shore. 

Lapis hoped that were the case, but as she patted herself dry and stared at her skin- warm brown, and free of scars- she wondered if a certain other steel-skinned alien could still be out there. 

* * *

Jasper was alive.

Peridot knew this, and yet somehow she found herself not believing it. Everything seemed unreal… She couldn't wrap her mind around _anyone_ surviving an explosion like that. 

But Jasper wasn't like her. Jasper was strong.

Tossing and turning in her futon, Peridot squeezed her eyes shut and begged the universe to let her sleep already. 

Just as she began to drift off, her phone buzzed.

Pearl was calling her.

* * *

Lapis glanced at Peridot.

Her cheeks were slightly flushed from the ride over, and her eyes were watery, with that slight squint they always had when she was sleepy. Adorable. 

Lapis hoped she'd been getting enough rest. She'd have to ask her about it later. 

Peridot smiled at her. Lapis noticed her scar- a thin, white line that ran along her jawline and contrasted with her tanned skin. A small reminder of her crash-landing on Earth. 

"As you can see, alien related incidents have greatly decreased in the past few weeks…" Pearl began, "It's quiet. Too quiet." 

"You called us in here to tell us that nothing's happening?" Lapis asked with an irritated expression. 

Pearl glared at her, "Nothing means something." 

"I don't get it," Peridot said as she stifled a yawn. 

Garnet stepped inside the room and eyed the three from behind her dark shades, "What Pearl is trying to say is that it's been suspiciously silent." 

Tapping away at a nearby tablet, she projected a graph onto the screen. The rate of incidents was fairly consistent aside from the steep decline in the past few weeks. 

"Though they often went unreported by the news, alien encounters were common until recently. This may mean nothing, or-" 

Garnet turned to face the trio, "It can mean that someone is doing our job for us." 

Peridot frowned, "Maybe they're just afraid now that there's two superheroes in National City." 

"I don't think so," Pearl said, "Even when you joined us, we still had plenty on our plate." 

"Isn't it a good thing?" Lapis asked, "Whether someone's behind it or not… It's less for us to do." 

Frowning, she added, "And less for you to lock up." 

Pearl huffed, "Lazuli, I know you think we hate aliens but we don't! We're not more cruel than we have to be. Uh, usually.... But if someone else is capturing them, there's no telling what's being done. They could be killing harmless extraterrestrials for all we know." 

Lapis rolled her eyes, "I'm sure the thought keeps you awake at night. Just call me when you need me to do the punching." 

With that, Lapis made her way out of the room. Pearl crossed her arms and glared as she left. 

"Remind me again why we wanted her?" 

Nervously, Peridot looked to Pearl, "She's not trying to be difficult she's just… adjusting. Lapis isn't exactly the, uh, team effort type." 

* * *

"That's not yours." 

The man turned around with a start. Lapis leaned against the brick wall and eyed him coldly.

"The wallet," she said, "It's not yours." 

He scoffed. "I don't have anyone's wallet. Fuck off."

She smiled at him and held out her hand. "I'm giving you one last chance. Give it here. Now."

He rolled his eyes and began walking away, "You must have me mistaken."

Lapis flew up and landed in front of him. Slamming her hands against his shoulders, she pinned him to the wall and murmured in his ear:

"I have good eyes. I know you mugged that woman. Now hand it over."

He glared at her. "I have nothing to give you." 

Lapis narrowed her eyes and swung her fist into his jaw. He crumpled to the floor. Reaching down, she grabbed the stolen wallet from his pocket.

The heroine gave the man one last stormy glare before she took off into the sky. 

* * *

"You're hiding something." 

Peridot jumped. She relaxed when she realized it was just Garnet.

"W-what do you mean?"

"Jasper's back," Garnet said plainly. "But you're keeping it a secret because you're afraid Lapis Lazuli will leave again." 

Peridot felt a chill down her spine, "How did you-"

"I'm telepathic, Peridot."

Her eyes widened. Immediately, she remembered when Jasper had captured her. As the ship doors closed, Peridot swore she heard Garnet's voice echo in her mind:

_Bring her home._

She shuddered, and stared at Garnet in disbelief, "What are you?" 

Rude, yeah, but it was the first thought that came to mind. Luckily, Garnet simply cracked a smile.

"The first time you were here, I told you the history of this organization and the Crystal Gems. What I didn't tell you, however, is that my parents and I were its original members. We've been with Rose Quartz from the beginning."

"You mean, you…" Peridot's heart pounded, "You're an alien?" 

Silently, Garnet removed her visor. Peridot nearly fainted- behind her dark shades were three different coloured eyes: blue, red, and centered above both- violet.

"You… alien…" she murmured, shaking her head. "Why wait until now to tell me?" 

Garnet shrugged. "You weren't ready."

"What else can you do?" she blurted out, "Can you fly? Are you strong like Lapis? Can you read _anyone's _thoughts or do certain species-"__

__

"Peridot," she interrupted. "We're discussing Jasper, remember?"

She smiled nervously, "Heh-heh, right…"

"Her ship was destroyed. She won't be taking you or Lapis Lazuli back to space anytime soon. Still, as long as she's out there, she's a threat. We've been trying to track her, but her whereabouts are unknown. As of now, we don't know where she's hiding."

Peridot raised an eyebrow, "You guys… You've known for a while, haven't you?"

"We figured that with her invulnerability, it was quite possible that she survived the explosion. But you two had saved the day, and you needed time to recuperate. You needed the win."

Peridot felt like she'd just swallowed a rock. They'd been enjoying their false hope while the DEO worked to track down the biggest threat since the Gordanians. It didn't feel right.

"As soon as we find a lead," Garnet continued, "we'll contact you."

"What about Lapis?" she asked quietly.

"She'll have to be told eventually, but for now, there's nothing she can do. There's no need to stress her. She may try to go after Jasper on her own."

Peridot raised an eyebrow, "You think she would go after her instead of running?"

"I'm sure of it," Garnet said.

"Why?"

"Without her ship, Jasper can't take Lazuli's freedom. She can't drag her back to space. But there's still one more thing she can take from her- you."

* * *

"I like you."

Lapis smiled as Peridot's cheeks coloured into a vibrant shade of blue. The shorter girl smiled sheepishly and brushed a strand of blonde hair behind her ear. 

"I like you, too," she replied quietly. 

_"Did Pearl have any more news?"_ Lapis asked, slipping into Kryptonian. _"Any leads?"_

They were in a crowded café, and she figured speaking in an extraterrestial language would attract less attention than openly discussing the covert matters of a secret government organization. 

Peridot shook her head and studied her cappuccino. _"No news. She said that we should just stay alert, and… Uh, I don't remember."_

Lapis cracked a smile, _"You don't remember?"_

_"She started talking and made a face that reminded me of that thing you sent me last night. I got distracted."_

Lapis laughed, "Oh, Pen, memes are going to be the death of you." 

Peridot giggled and took a sip of her drink. Lapis raised an eyebrow.

"Wait, aren't you lactose-intolerant?"

"It's soy." 

Lapis nodded slowly, "A soyccino…"

_"But anyway,"_ Peridot began, _"she's pretty sure that someone or something is taking care of the aliens. I don't know. I think she's paranoid."_

_"Who could be behind that? And why?"_

Peridot simply shrugged, but Lapis noticed her eyes grow stormy. She frowned, _"It's gonna be okay. Don't worry. There's no one we can't handle."_

She furrowed her brow. Peridot's hand seemed to shake in hers.

_"What's wrong…? Are you sure she didn't say anything else?"_

The Kryptonian simply shook her head. Lapis knew she wasn't telling her everything. Peridot's eyes seemed a million miles away- troubled and full of worry. She let go of Lapis' hand and cradled the mug in her own. 

Lapid couldn't be mad. She wasn't being completely honest, either… 

As she watched Peridot take another sip, Lapis stared at her blonde hair- slightly wavy and pulled into an updo. Her black dress came below her knees and buttoned up into a high collar. She looked a little 1940s, but strikingly beautiful.

Lapis felt her heart sink worrying what Jasper could do to her if she really were alive. She wouldn't know how to live if she lost her. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> be sure to leave a comment !! xx next chapter will be 9/10


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